NNPC: Gas is the fuel of the future
The Senate Committee on gas has advised that the federal government should scrap payable tariffs on all Liquefied Petroleum Gas equipment imported into the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Osita Izunaso, said this at the Nigerian Gas Association’s symposium which held in Abuja last week, even as the Company Secretary, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Prof. Yinka Omorogbe disclosed that the Petroleum Industry Bill had a lot about gas and gas utilization, stressing that gas is the fuel of the future.
According to her, “there is a general agreement that gas is the fuel of the future and the reform is pushing and advocating much greater gas usage. So, we do hope that our fear is the thing of the past”.
“I don’t think them is a delay right now. In fad, I get feelers that it will be passed soon. As you know, there is a process that must be complied with before it is passed. It is not passed like decree. So, let all Nigerians be patient.”
Omorogbe spoke in Lagos at a lecture luncheon/talk organized by Moni Pulo Limited. She spoke on the topic: “Oil and gas reform: Implications for the Nigerian economy and other topical issues in the oil industry”.
But amidst calls by many LPG operators for tariff free importations, Senator Izunaso lamented Nigeria’s low per capita consumption of LPG, adding that time has come for government to stimulate local consumption of LPG from the current 70,000 metric tones of cooking gas consumed per annum in Nigeria.
“There is no doubt that the consumption level of LPG must be improved upon and I urge the Federal Government to remove the tariffs on all LPG related accessories imported into Nigeria, he said.
And giving an insight into the difficulties that importers of LPG face, managing director, Linetrale Gas, Mr. Felix Ekundayo, whose company recently imported large LPG equipment said it would be a welcome idea for the government to drop the tariffs, adding that it had been a burden on operators.
“We just bought a lot of equipment that are just arriving the country now, but the tariff system that was applied is not clear and can be somewhat arbitrary. We have paid from five to 20 per cent on LPG equipment that is essentially supposed to be tariff free. From our perspective, it Is a welcome development if the government removes tariff on LPG equipment but the implementation is more important”, he lamented.
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