Operators Predict Boom In LPG Market

As the subsidy on kerosene becomes increasingly unsustainable, fueling concern that the price of the product will soon go up in the event of the imminent removal of the subsidy, marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, have predicted a boom in the market.
 

As the subsidy on kerosene becomes increasingly unsustainable, fueling concern that the price of the product will soon go up in the event of the imminent removal of the subsidy, marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, have predicted a boom in the market.
 
The President of the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers (NALPGAM), Mr. Basil Ogbuanu, has said that with the increased supply of LPG to the Nigerian market by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, coupled with the huge subsidy spent by the Federal Government on alternative fuels, a revolution in the LPG market was imminent.
 
He said the NLNG had increased its supply to the domestic market from 150,000 metric tonnes to 250,000 metric tonnes yearly, adding that NALPGAM has to take deliberate steps to sensitize its members on the impending boom, so that they can analyze their strengths and weaknesses.
 
“The boom in the LPG market will be similar to the revolution in the telecommunication sector. As the growth trend of the LPG market is on the increase, we want our members to know of this impending revolution so that they will be prepared to make the product available and affordable,” he said.
 
Ogbuanu said the number of companies licensed to lift NLNG product had increased from six in 2007 to 13 in 2014, adding that because of the guaranteed coastal supply of LPG, additional terminals had also been built in the country.
 
He listed the new investments to include: a 4,500 metric tonne capacity LPG terminal by NIPCO Plc; 8,000MT facility by Navgas Limited; 1,500MT terminal by Forte Oil, in addition to the existing 4,000mt terminal by the Pipelines Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).