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| GAS CYLINDER |
BY Chineme Okafor
The
Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has said
that extant multiplication of operational regulation by various agencies of the
federal government has continued to create series of imbalance in Nigeria’s
domestic LPG market.
NALPGAM
noted that asides the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which is
statutorily empowered to regulate business operations in the domestic LPG
market, other agencies of government whose statutory responsibilities are not
directly connected to its operations have constituted themselves as parts of
extant challenges limiting the growth of the market.
President
of NALPGAM, Mr. Basil Ogbuanu, stated recently at the Annual General Meeting
(AGM) and unveiling of the association’s new logo in Abuja that the overbearing
acts of these governments agencies, notably the weight and measure department
of the federal ministry of trade and investment, has prompted the association
to seek better clarification from the government as to which of its agencies is
actually responsible for regulation of the domestic LPG market.
Ogbuanu
explained that given the terms of demands from such agencies, the association
has in its bewilderment sort to know the position of DPR in operations within
the domestic market.
“By law,
the DPR regulates, licenses and make sure operators in the business adhere to
regulations in this sector but now other government agencies like the Ministry
of Trade and Investment through the Department of Weight and Measures come in
to demand that we pay for storage tank that is not interfering with our
relationship with our customers.
What we
are supposed to pay for is the scale, which is the interface between us and our
customers for them to get value for their money. But now, they are asking us to
pay N300,000 per storage tank that is stationary after paying N20,000 for
renewal of our licences, and it is this same licence that guarantees our
operation while somebody wants us to pay that amount for an item,” Ogbuanu
stated.
He
further noted: “We have others like the environment agency of government come
in to the same gas plant such that we are now asking who is regulating
operations in gas plants in Nigeria. This is becoming so much of a concern to our
members especially when you consider that someone who does not give us
operational licence now wants to regulate us; who do we answer to now?”
When
asked to comment on the current status of LPG supply to the domestic market,
Ogbuanu said: “About two years ago, the total consumption of LPG in Nigeria was
about 120 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) but today, we are 250mtpa and with the
way things are going, we are looking forward that in two years time, we should
be hitting 500mtpa in the domestic market.
As it is
today through the intervention of the federal government and Nigeria Liquefied
Natural Gas (NLNG) programme, the supply is very sustainable, we don’t have
problems with supply. It used to be supply and storage before but now, it is
steady and we have enough storage facilities in-country especially in the Lagos
area.
In terms
of supply, there is abundance of gas but the only challenge now is about price
and consumption.”
“The
price issue has been that the NLNG that is the major supplier of this gas are
giving us based on international price and we have been calling for government
to intervene and give us a domestic pricing template.
The
quantity that is put for domestic consumption is about 250mtpa and we want that
it should be priced in domestic terms because in 2001, a truck of 20 metric
tonne was about N1.6 million but today it is about N3.4 million and it is the
same product produced in Nigeria. We are now asking that it be priced
domestically especially now that it is available, it should then be affordable,”
Ogbuanu said.
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