The Federal Government announced on Tuesday that the country will reduce its annual importation of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, by approximately $4.4 billion through the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas.
It announced this through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, adding that the target of government was to convert one million diesel and petrol-powered vehicles to start running on CNG.
This, according to the Coordinator, Regulations, Compliance and Facilitation, PCNGI, Zayyan Tambari , would save the country about $4.4bn annually on the importation of PMS into Nigeria.
Tambari disclosed this in a presentation at the Co-Creation Session on Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System in Abuja, as he also revealed that the target of the Federal Government was to replace 20 per cent of the current 50 million litres of petrol consumed daily across the country with CNG.
The PCNGI stated that about $890m investment would be required to develop infrastructure for the alternative fuel.
Also at the event, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who was represented by Abel Nsa, said the government would ensure that Nigeria reaps the full benefits of its gas resources.
“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.
“Recall what happened in 2009-2001 with the emergence of the cell phone during (former) President Olusegun 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 utilise CNG,” he stated.
