Damilola Shittu – Abuja
The Federal Government plans to review the prices of gas consumed across the country.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the move would help deepen the use Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, as well as Compressed Natural Gas.
The Federal Government targets to move motorists from the use of petrol to the use of CNG in their respective vehicles.
Sylva, according to a statement from his ministry on Tuesday, said the government would continue to push for the use of gas for cooking and in automobiles.
He disclosed the plan of government to review the country’s domestic gas pricing framework at the inauguration of a committee that would focus on gas sector review in Nigeria.
The minister said the committee would evaluate and review gas prices nationwide in order to align with the current economic realities.
He said there was a need to have an appropriate pricing system, as this would be to the advantage of ordinary Nigerians and industries, and would boost the country’s gas sector.
Sylva recently told journalists in Abuja that gas penetration in Nigeria was low because the initial capital outlay to be spent by any prospective gas user was high.
This, according to him, was why the government decided to come up with the initiative of creating micro gas distribution centres, where cylinders could be rented by users.
The minister had further noted that the possible hike in petrol price in the near future following the rise in global crude oil prices was another reason why Nigerians should switch from petrol to gas.
Sylva explained that with a liberalised oil sector, the cost of petrol would continue to fluctuate, adding that since Nigeria was more of a gas country, it would be better for citizens to use the abundant gas resources located across the country.
