Despite efforts of the Federal Government through its subsidy scheme to deliver kerosene at N50 per liter to consumers, the price remains high – in excess of N160 per litre – as artificial scarcity of the product persists in the domestic market. This has led the NNPC and NLNG to encourage consumers to explore the domestic cooking gas option for cost-efficient benefits, National Mirror reports.
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, recently disclosed that efforts were being made to shift from kerosene to cooking as the nation’s major domestic fuel.
He said that NNPC intends to promote the increased utilization of cooking gas for several reasons; “First, the nation has huge reserves of gas. Second, it is clearer than other resources. Consequently, one needs to shift to gas. Already, NNPC gas supply has increased by 200 percent. We are hoping that in the nearest future every family in Nigeria will be able to own a cooking gas cylinder courtesy of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has also expressed commitment to make contributions from its six train facility at Bonny, Rivers State. The company’s chief executive officer, Mr. Babs Omotowa also indicated that there would be increased investment across the value chain to enable sustained and reliable cooking gas availability.
He further noted that NLNG which currently supplies some eighty per cent (80%) of the total cooking gas consumed by Nigerians, has also subsidized the product to the cost of about $50 million since its intervention began.