…to make cooking gas affordable to rural dwellers

A team from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is in Nasarawa State to launch the company’s maiden LPG Micro Filling Plant, aimed at making cooking gas available and affordable in rural areas.

Aisha Birma, Manager, External Relations, who lead the NNPCL team on a courtesy call at the Government House on Tuesday, disclosed that twelve states in the country have been identified as pilot states, with Nasarawa State selected to be the state to launch and kickstart the project.

“We have 12 states as the pilot states, but we are starting with Nasarawa State because of the enormous resources you have here and the potentials,” Hajiya Birma stated.

Explaining further, Jibunoh Sabastine, Manager, LPG Sales NNPC Retail Limited, said the company has decided to introduce micro filling plants to be deployed to hinterland, especially in less developed communities, in order to introduce the use of cooking gas, instead of cutting down trees and using energy that is not safe.

“The micro filling plant is a specially built compact, compatible containerized system capable of storing LPG in cylinders and dispense same at designated places. We intend to take it to areas where there is a lack of orientation on the use of gas for cooking purposes. NNPC has adequate gas supply to distribute across the hinterlands.

“One of the intentions of this is to ensure that people at the hinterland, no matter how poor you are, would be able to afford gas. Take, for instance, you take it to a certain location, and the people have supplies of cylinders, they can buy LPG no matter the quantity you want. If you want to buy LPG of N500 you should be able to come here and refill your cylinder and take to your house to use,” Sabastine said.

He disclosed that his company would build three LPG micro filling plants in Nasarawa State, one in each senatorial zone, with each plant estimated to cost between seventy to ninety million naira.

Sabastine sought the support of the Nasarawa State Government in the area of providing 500 square meters of land at each of the locations for siting the project.

He stated further that after the three pilot projects, the NNPC would subsequently in the coming year, scale up the project by establishing additional plants to be decided by the company.

He pointed out that because the project is expected to not only generate employment but also introduce the gas business to people at the hinterlands, the state government may subsequently partner with the NNPC to cascade the LPG Micro Filling Plant across the nooks and crannies of the state.

In his response, Governor Abdullahi Sule, appreciated the NNPC for not only selecting Nasarawa State as part of the twelve pilot states but also choosing the state to launch and kickstart the project.

While indicating the interest of his administration to support the NNPC in carrying out the project, Governor Sule used the opportunity of the visit to the team on the ongoing oil exploration in the state.

“Exactly one year ago, the NNPCL started oil drilling operations in Obi. With the start of that, usually before the end of last year, we were supposed to have finished drilling that well. That well is still being drilled. One of the reasons was because they came in contact with gas too early. They have lots of challenges right now when it comes to gas. As a matter of fact, they have to do what is called importation of water, that is, taking water from other location to the site. That means you have plenty of gas in Nasarawa State,” he stated.

The Governor noted that Nigeria currently has over 200 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, while the country has just about 40bn barrels of oil reserve.
He described it as a win-win situation with the NNPC exploiting various sources of utilization of gas.

“We in Nasarawa State should be happy with that because we are now a state with the abundance of resources of gas. It’s something that is a win-win for both of us,” he said.

Governor Sule therefore directed the NNPC team to liaise with the State Ministry of Land, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), as well as the Nasarawa State Geographic Information Service ( NAGIS), with a view to fine tuning modalities for kickstarting the project.