The Federal Government has stated that Nigeria would save over $4.4 billion annually converting over one million vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas.
Making a presentation at a Co-Creation Session on the Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System, NGVMS, in Abuja on Tuesday, the Coordinator, Regulations, Compliance and Facilitation, Zayyan Tambari, said this was coming on the heels of the present administration’s drive to push for increased gas supply to the domestic market, disclosing that about $890 million investment would be required to develop infrastructure for the alternative fuel.
Tambari also revealed that it expects to convert about one million vehicles to CNG which would save about $4.4 billion annually in petrol importation.
He explained that the government expects CNG to replace 20 per cent of the current 50 million litres of petrol consumed in the country daily.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo said the government was determined to ensure that Nigeria reaps the full benefits of its gas resources.
Ekpo who was represented at the event by Abel Nsa, pointed out that to ensure a safe usage of CNG as fuel for vehicles, specific materials and tools would be needed across the value chain.
“We are at the point where we need to begin to talk about the safety issues in the use of CNG. We have got to educate ourselves and we have got to use specific tools and materials hitherto that we have not been using.
“If you will recall what happened in 2009-2001 with the emergence of the cell phone during President Obasanjo’s regime, from an economic perspective, a lot is going to happen. It is going to give us a lot of tools on how to utilize CNG,” Ekpo added.
On his part, the Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha said the agency in its quest to promote the use of gas has gazetted two regulations that addressed technical framework and specifications for the development of gas retailing infrastructures and fuel quality standards.