Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigeria LNG Limited on Monday cautioned against panic buying of Domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise known as cooking gas, as a result of the force majeure declared due to the surging flood in the country, which the company said has disrupted supply.
The gas multinational who allayed fears of cooking gas scarcity and price hike, also cautioned marketers, middlemen and retailers, against hoarding of the product.
The recent declaration of force majeure by the NLNG had caused panic among the consumers of DLPG, also known as cooking gas, who feared there could be scarcity of the commodity.
NLNG General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mr Andy Odeh, speaking in a live television programme monitored by our correspondent in Port Harcourt, said none of NLNG’s assets on Bonny Island or in any of its host communities were impacted by the flood.
Odeh explained that the force majeure, rather was a consequence of a similar notice by upstream gas suppliers due to the impact of flood in their production facilities.
“We don’t determine the price of gas as a company. However, I know the fears and concerns out there but I think it is important to reiterate that we are producing DLPG, which is the cooking gas into the domestic market.
“Only last week, the only dedicated DLPG vessel left the Bonny facility to deliver into Lagos. Will this affect the price of cooking gas? No it shouldn’t.
“I think to an extent the National Association of LPG Marketers has also gone out to assure the public that there is no need to panic buy, there is no need to stock or store cylinders in our homes because of fear or concern that there will be scarcity,” Odey said.
NLNG further expressed optimism that normalcy will return in the next few weeks when the flood recedes.
The company assured Nigerians that it was also working with all critical stakeholders to mitigate the impact on product deliveries.
“As you know this is all about flooding, I will say it is difficult to predict the weather.
“When water recedes and this we expect will happen by the upstream suppliers but again I think at this point safety of people who work on those sites and of course safety of assets in those facilities are paramount.
“In the coming weeks we will continue to monitor the situation. In terms of timeline, we are looking at next few weeks, confirmation is that as we speak the water is no more rising, so in the next two to three weeks we expect it to recede.”
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