- Increased gas production will encourage marketing companies and Nigerians to key into the federal government’s Autogas policy.
- Currently, CNG is cheaper than petrol, but the main issue is availability.
Masters Energy Oil & Gas Limited has advocated for increased gas production and availability in the domestic market. According to the firm, this will encourage marketing companies and the Nigerian masses to key into the federal government’s Autogas policy. The firm also urged the federal government to implement measures to address the foreign exchange challenge, posing a significant hiccup in importing and marketing petroleum products.
The Executive Director of Operations, Masters Energy Group, Mr Felix Eribo, made the submissions during an interview with THISDAY on the sidelines of the just-concluded 2023 Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) Africa Downstream Week, held in Lagos. Eribo said the company was already keying into the Autogas policy, which was more popular with using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to power mass transit buses and private cars.
He said Masters Energy was cooperating and collaborating with the government to ensure the success of the Autogas programme and had started establishing its CNG refilling stations across its major filling stations in the country. Noting that CNG was cheaper than petrol, Eribo pointed out that the challenge in its adoption was the unavailability of the gas. He added that this discourages marketers from setting up CNG refilling plants and dampens vehicle owners’ willingness to convert their vehicles to CNG-powered.
Eribo explained, “I’ve told you earlier that we have over 300 filling stations nationwide. So, we are keying into that Autogas policy. And we have started establishing our CNG refilling stations starting from our major filling stations in major cities across the country, especially in the South-east. So, to address this, the federal government has to ensure that the gas we flare is converted to CNG. When the CNG is available, and we can get it, we can establish the refilling plants in all the stations. Currently, CNG is cheaper than petrol, but availability is the main issue.”