NNPC Initiates Plans For Vehicles To Run On Gas

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has initiated plans for more vehicles in the country to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) instead of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Speaking on “Domestic Gas Utilization in Nigeria: From Producers to Users” at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) yearly Oloibiri lecture series, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said the corporation has successfully completed a pilot programme to introduce natural gas as fuel for transportation through CNG.

According to Baru, over 4,000 cars, mostly commercial taxis, run on natural gas in Benin, served by a network of six gas filling stations.

The General Manager, Natural Gas of Green Gas Limited, Rajesh Prabhu, said adopting the CNG option is sustainable, considering that Nigeria is one of the largest producers of natural gas.

Baru stated: “The use of gas in transportation is cheaper, taxi drivers save significantly on petrol cost by using gas, as CNG is sold at 46 per cent the price of petrol. Dangote cement factories are converting their trucks to run on CNG as it is not only cheaper but it is neater and cleaner and pilferage-free,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said that scarcity of petroleum products is imminent in parts of the South West over non-functional five depots supposed to serve the area.

Speaking with reporters in Ilorin yesterday, the chairman of Western zone IPMAN, Alhaji Debo Ahmed, said that the five NNPC depots had been inoperable between two to five years ago.