The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd on Thursday commissioned 12 Compressed Natural Gas stations to reduce transportation costs in the country, following the removal of petroleum subsidy by President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu had, on May 29, last year announced the removal of subsidy on petrol, a development that made the price to rise from N197 per liter to N617 per liter.
The newly built CNG stations which had six in Lagos and six in Abuja were commissioned by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo.
The event was attended by the Chairman of the NNPC Board, Pius Akinyelure, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, the Managing Director of the NNPCL Retail Ltd, Huub Stokman and other stakeholders in the energy sector.
Under the Presidential CNG initiative, NNPC & NIPCO Gas entered into strategic partnership for expansion of CNG Stations across Nigeria. Under this partnership, 35 CNG Stations are to be constructed across Nigeria.
These CNG stations feature advanced reciprocating and hydraulic booster compressors, ensuring a dispensing pressure of 200 bar for CNG vehicles.
The CNG is supplied to stations in Abuja and Lagos via virtual transportation from Mother Stations in Ajaokuta, Kogi state, and lbafo, Ogun state. The Abuja station will soon connect to the AKK Pipeline, becoming a Mother CNG station. The stations’ power needs are met by gas-driven generators, reducing carbon emissions.
The CNG station on Airport Road, Abuja, includes a 5-bay CNG Vehicle Conversion Workshop, capable of converting 5 to 6 vehicles daily.
Together, the Abuja and Lagos stations have a combined dispensing capacity of over 6 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) of CNG per day, serving approximately 15,000 vehicles daily.
This ensures continuous, reliable, affordable and safe CNG supplies to motorists across various regions.
Speaking at the event, Kyari declared that the drive to bring Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) closer to Nigerians has since commenced and is irreversible.
He said in addition to the massive deployment of CNG stations nationwide, the NNPC Ltd and its partners would also build three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stations in Ajaokuta.
He said, “There is simply no way to turn back on delivering CNG for all Nigerians. It is the right thing to do. Is it late? Yes, but we will make progress, we will cover the gap in order to ensure that the volatility we see with Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) does not apply to gas.
The GCEO commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing the needed support to drive domestic gas utilisation aimed at delivering cleaner and cheaper source of energy to Nigerians.
He said, “The dream of Mr President to deliver cleaner, cheaper fuel is real and is happening as we commissioned 12 stations in Lagos and Abuja today.
“We are rolling out in every state of the federation. By the end of the year, we will be in every state of the federation. And we know that Nigerians will benefit from it, not just about cost now, it’s about a clean fuel that people can have access to, fuel that is clean, cheap, and ultimately, to reduce their costs.
“And this is the dream of Mr. President. His consistent statement is that we must make this available to Nigeria, and this dream is becoming true. We will construct all the modern stations across the Six geopolitical zones already a work in progress.”
He added, “We are doing three LNG stations in Ajeokuta. Actual construction work will start in September, sites have been cleared as we speak now. And the meaning of this is that at the end, the CNG will continue to be made easily available to every part of the country.
“And we’re doing it across in the East in the West and the North.”
While assuring that the NNPC Ltd will continue to deliver more strategic gas projects for the benefit of Nigerians in line with the Presidential CNG initiative of bringing prosperity to all Nigerians, Kyari reaffirmed the determination of the NNPC to guarantee the nation’s energy security.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Managing Director, NNPC Retail Limited, Mr. Huub Stokman revealed that in the next one year, NNPC Retail would have launched over 100 CNG sites, including 16 NNPC Gas Marketing and NIPCO Gas JV sites.
“CNG provides Nigeria with affordable alternatives to existing available fuel products. It will be about 40 per cent cheaper than petrol in Nigeria and with continued investments, it will become a significant part of our energy mix,” Stokman added.
In his remarks, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo said the commissioning of the stations will not only provide economic benefits by creating jobs and stimulating local economies, it will also contribute significantly to Nigeria’s national goals of reducing emissions and combating climate change.
On his part, the Chairman of the NNPC Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure said increased CNG adoption will foster economic benefits by reducing fuel costs for consumers and businesses alike.
Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the declaration of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiatives, NNPC Limited has taken the lead in the deployment of Auto-CNG Stations across Nigeria.
Already, NNPC Gas Marketing Limited, a subsidiary of NNPC Limited, in partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited has developed an Auto-CNG rollout plan for construction of thirty-five (35) CNG stations across the various geographical zones of Nigeria.