FIC Report (Nasarawa State) – Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is to establish a maiden LPG Micro Filling Plant in Nasarawa state, aimed at making cooking gas available and affordable in rural areas.
The NNPC Manager, in charge of External Relations, who lead theNNPCL Aisha Birma stated this when she let a team of experts on a courtesy call to Governor Abdullahi Sule Government House in Lafia recently.
She disclosed that twelve states in the country have been identified as pilot states, with Nasarawa State selected to be the state to launch and kick starts the project.
“We have 12 states as the pilot states, but we are starting with Nasarawa State because of the enormous resources you have here and the potentials,” Hajiya Birma stated.
Explaining further, Jibunoh Sabastine, Manager, LPG Sales NNPC Retail Limited, said the company has decided to introduce micro filling plants to be deployed to hinterland, especially in less developed communities, in order to introduce the use of cooking gas, instead of cutting down trees and using energy that is not safe.
He pointed out that, the micro filling plant is a specially built compact, compatible containerized system capable of storing LPG in cylinders and dispense same at designated places.
“We intend to take it to areas where there is a lack of orientation on the use of gas for cooking purposes. NNPC has adequate gas supply to distribute across the hinterlands”.
He disclosed that the company would build three LPG micro filling plants in Nasarawa State, one in each senatorial zone, with each plant estimated to cost between seventy to ninety million naira.
He stressed the need for support by Nasarawa State Government in the area of provision of 500 square meters of land at each of the locations for siting the project.
He explained that, out that because the project is expected to not only generate employment but also introduce the gas business to people at the hinterlands, the state government may subsequently partner with the NNPC to cascade the LPG Micro Filling Plant across the nooks and crannies of the state.
Governor Abdullahi Sule on his part, appreciated the NNPC for not only selecting Nasarawa State to be among the twelve pilot states but also choosing the state to launch and kickstart the project.
While indicating the interest of his administration to support the NNPC in carrying out the project, Governor Sule used the opportunity of the visit to the team on the ongoing oil exploration in the state.
“Exactly one year ago, the NNPCL started oil drilling operations in Obi. With the start of that, usually before the end of last year, we were supposed to have finished drilling that well. That well is still being drilled. One of the reasons was because they came in contact with gas too early. They have lots of challenges right now when it comes to gas. As a matter of fact, they have to do what is called importation of water that is, taking water from other location to the site. That means you have plenty of gas in Nasarawa State,” he stated.
The Governor noted that Nigeria currently has over 200 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, while the country has just about 40bn barrels of oil reserve. a situation he described as a win-win situation with the NNPC exploiting various sources of utilization of gas.
The Governor directed the NNPC team to liaise with the State Ministry of Land, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), as well as the Nasarawa State Geographic Information Service ( NAGIS), with a view to fine tuning modalities for kick starting the project.
SOLOMON MUNDUNG
AEO (Information)
Edited By
Ari, Liman Aminu.
(P I &PUBLIC R. O.),
HEAD OF CENTRE.
