The Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) is raising its investment in gas infrastructure to bolster the decade of gas agenda of the Federal Government.
The company has established Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities across the country to make cars run on gas, while it is currently expanding its scope on supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and building new pipeline infrastructure to strategic locations in the country.
Managing Director of the NIPCO Plc, Suresh Kumar reportedly stated this in company of the MD NIPCO Gas Ltd., Nagendra Verma, after a terminal facility tour in Lagos. He said the company has invested millions in local and foreign currencies in developing Nigeria’s natural gas over the years, while more projects are still in the offing.
He said,
“We have spent more than $50 million on natural gas infrastructure over the years. We believe there are lots of potential in Nigeria that can be explored for gas utilisation, and this will further boost our economy.
“By using indigenous gas, we can reduce subsidy burden on the Federal Government. We can reduce the importation burden, and that will directly or indirectly save our huge capital flight and there will be more employment opportunities for Nigerians.”
“We are the pioneers; we always dream for the future, so we dreamt for natural gas utilisation in Nigeria right from 2008 and we started investing. We introduced this model to the government because Nigeria has abundant natural gas, and instead of wasting subsidy on petrol, we should be looking at a blueprint of changing the petrol market to CNG market.”
According to Kumar, NIPCO is an integrated company that supplies Nigerian market with petrol, diesel and gas. He said the company currently has about 19,500mt combined storage capacity for LPG, with 10 loading bays which can truck-out over 4,000 tons per day.
Verma said the company currently has 14 CNG filling stations in various states across Nigeria, while another six CNG stations are currently under construction. He added that over 7,000 vehicles are presently running on CNG, while over 350 truck fleet of NIPCO are all running on gas.
“We have workshops which are fully efficient and capable to convert PMS vehicles to gas, we have the expertise and we are ready to convert more vehicles to run on gas,” he added.
