A report by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) shows that Nigeria imported 62 per cent of the liquefied natural gas, also known as cooking gas, in 2019 while 37.42 per cent of the product was sourced locally.
PPPRA said in the data for the year under review that 45 per cent of the product was imported from the United States of America (USA), 3.95 per cent from Argentina and 8.99 per cent from Equatorial Guinea.
Other countries from which Nigeria got the product were Algeria, 0.88; Trinidad and Tobago, 1.67; India, 0.50; Spain, 0.74.
The figures showed that between January and December 2019, about 526 million metric tons of the hydro-carbon was sourced abroad, while Nigeria produced 314.5 million locally, totaling about 840.5 million metric tons.
No reason was given for the monthly import fluctuations, but the data showed that imports grew from 32.31 per cent in February to as high as 100 per cent in August before falling to 77 per cent in December of the same year.
“The challenges of the LPG domestic market include inefficient distribution chain, pricing distortion occasioned by high LPG price, limited jetty, limited depot storage, inadequate and under-supplied LPG terminals, unsafe cylinder population among others,” the agency stated.
The agency also listed availability, affordability, acceptability as well as accessibility as some of the barriers to LPG adoption.
For this year, the PPPRA said over 71 per cent of the product was imported in the month of August 2020 alone.
It said a total of 123.5 million metric tons were supplied, out of which 88.1 million tons were imported, while 35.3 million tons were sourced locally.
The PPPRA listed Algasco LPG Services Limited, a subsidiary of Vitol, as the highest importer of the commodity into the country in August 2020, with 43,888 MT (VAC) of LPG, representing 48.78 per cent of the total import, and 35.52 per cent of total LPG supplied in the period under review.
The other importers, according to the agency included Matrix Energy, 19,770 MT (VAC); Prudent Energy and Services Limited, 9,568 MT (VAC) of LPG, and NIPCO, 10,893 MT (VAC).
It said of the 35.3 MT (VAC) of liquefied natural gas sourced locally in August, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) supplied 3.634.401 MT (VAC); NIPCO supplied 9,383.680 MT (VAC); Algasco, 4,107.667 MT (VAC), and Stockgap Fuels Limited, 9,058.139 MT (VAC).
The product was discharged at Lister Jetty, Apapa; Matrix Jetty, Warri; Prudent Energy Jetty, Oghara; Bulk Oil Plant, Apapa; North Oil Jetty and Stockgap Jetty in Port Harcourt, according to the agency.
