Ike Amos
Lagos — Nigeria’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, supply dipped by 10.53 per cent to 136,569.1 metric tonnes in vacuum, MT VAC, in September 2020, compared to 123,554.33 MT VAC of LPG supplied in August 2020.
According to September 2020 LPG supply data obtained from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, the volume of LPG, also known as cooking gas, supplied in September 2020, was, however, 1.02 per cent higher than the 135,191.4 MT supplied across the country in September 2019.
The PPPRA data revealed that out of the total volume of cooking gas supplied in September 2020, 57,187.75 MT VAC, representing 41.87 per cent of the total, was imported, while 79,381.34 MT VAC of the commodity, representing 58.12 per cent of the total was sourced locally.
In comparison, in August 2020, 71.35 per cent of the LPG supplied in Nigeria was imported, while 28.65 per cent of the total was sourced locally, representing 88,157.108 Mt VAC and 35,397.221 MT VAC respectively.
In addition, of the 135,191.4 MT VAC of LPG supplied in September 2019, 91,951.263 MT VAC, representing 68.02 per cent of total LPG supplied were sourced locally, while 43,240.137 MT VAC of LPG, representing 31.98 per cent of the total were imported.
Specifically, LPG import dipped by 35.13 per cent to 57,187.75 metric tonnes in vacuum, MT VAC, in September 2020, from 88,157.108 MT VAC recorded in the previous month, August 2020.
The volume of the product imported in September 2020, was also 37.81 per cent lower than the 91,951.263 MT VAC imported in September 2019.
The PPPRA report further stated that 45,148.396 MT VAC of LPG, representing 78.95 per cent of the 57,187.75 MT VAC of LPG supplied in September 2020 was imported from the United States, while 12,039.356 MT VAC of LPG, representing 21.05 per cent of the total, was imported from Equatorial Guinea.
In addition, the report noted that a total of eight companies were responsible for the total supply of cooking gas in the country in September 2020.
The companies, according to the report, are Matrix Energy, NIPCO, Algasco LPG Services Limited, a subsidiary of Vitol; Prudent Energy and Services Limited, Rainoil, Stockgap Fuels Limited, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG and Ever Oil and gas.
In the import category, Matrix Energy brought in 6,380.319 MT VAC and 6,282.882 MT VAC of LPG from the United States of America; NIPCO imported 12,039.356 MT VAC of LPG from Equatorial Guinea; while Algasco imported 5,495.043 MT VAC and 16,045 MT VAC of LPG from the US.
In addition, Prudent Energy and Rainoil imported 5,345.514 MT VAC and 5,598.974 MT VAC of LPG from the United States, respectively.
In the locally-sourced category, Algasco obtained 17,730.162 MT VAC of LPG and 9,475.592 MT VAC from the Bonny River Terminal, BRT, NIPCO sourced 13,464.184 MT VAC and 3,741.719 MT VAC of LPG from the NLNG, Bonny; while Stockgap sourced 8,998.006 MT VAC and 9,480.627 MT VAC of LPG from the NLNG , Bonny.
Furthermore, the NLNG supplied 9,286.840 MT VAC of LPG, while Ever Oil sourced 6,962.884 MT VAC of LPG from the Bonny River Terminal.
