LPG: Obasanjo’s 2005 Policy Excites Stakeholders
James Sowole in Abeokuta
The Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) has stated that the policy initiated by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, during his government has deepened domestic use of gas in the country, and still makes it relatively affordable for consumers.
The President of the NLPGA, Nuhu Yakubu, disclosed this yesterday during a courtesy visit on the former president by the leadership of the association at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Yakubu, who was accompanied by other leaders of the association, said in appreciation of the Obasanjo’s policy, they have come to invite him for the LPG conference and exhibition scheduled for June 23 and 24, 2022, in Lagos, saying: “Baba’s (Obasanjo) policy had promoted the LPG positively to what it is today.”
The president said Obasanjo had promised to present a keynote address on the liquefied petroleum gas industry.
He said: “The policy that Obasanjo initiated as back as 2005 leading to 2007 intervention, domestic supply intervention, has led to the supply sustainability that we have in the industry today.
“We thought that as our conference and exhibition come up on June 23 and 24, 2022 and also the 15th year anniversary of Nigeria LG intervention in LPG in Nigeria, we thought it was a good time to see him again, thank him, celebrate him and equally invite him to partake in our conference.
“It is an international conference in partnership with the Gas Academy of Singapore. We have the commitment of a lot of international exhibitors, including manufacturers of all sorts of LPG appliances, as new technologies in LPG are coming to exhibit their wares, and with the support of LNG, we thought it might be nice to meet the person who made all these things possible, in the person of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to join us in celebrating the 15 years of domestic LPG supply in Nigeria, and also to hear from us what we think, and how the next 10 or 15 years will be as well as to advise the industry.
“The policy that President Obasanjo initiated then in a nutshell got the international oil companies and producers of gas to commit a certain volume of their production to domestic use.
“The policy stated that all gas producers in Nigeria, rather than export all the gas, should commit a certain volume to domestic use.
“So far, unfortunately, it is only Nigeria LNG that has complied with that policy, and thanks for their compliance.
“The manageable situation we even have
now is because of that compliance. It is because of the policy that we have had the market grown the leaps so much so that the Nigeria LPG is adjudged the fastest growing in the world.”
Yakubu explained that the fluctuation in the market was simply because LPG is priced in United States dollar.
“So, once you have the dollar rise or increase as we all know, it is only logical that it will affect the retail price, but again, thanks for Nigeria LNG that is a dominant supply in the market otherwise it would have been worse than this. Perhaps, successive governments can copy what was done 10, 15 years ago as to initiate policies that will enable some reasonable stability in the supply side and pricing so that this fluctuation in price will be a thing of the past,” he said.
