As a result of the force majeure that was declared by Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has issued a warning to the people of Nigeria regarding the rush in buying of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is more commonly known as cooking gas. Oladapo Olatunbosun, the company’s president, sounded a note of caution in a statement made recently in the wake of the announcement that was made.
Olatunbosun emphasized that consumers do not need to worry about a possible shortage of the product on the basis of the force majeure, considering that the NLNG had made clear that its plant is in operation but with a limited capacity due to reduced gas supply from a few of its upstream gas suppliers, and added that none of its resources on Bonny Island, or within any of its host communities are impacted by the flood.
Flood affects upstream gas suppliers’ production facilities.
This declaration of force majeure is the result of a similar notification being issued by upstream gas suppliers due to the impact that flooding has had on their production facilities. The president affirmed once again that “Based on information reaching the Association, NLNG has not shut down its production facility in Bonny as rumored.” In addition to that, he stated that the NLNG had sent a shipment of LPG destined for the domestic market on Thursday, the 20th of October 2022.
Speaking further, he explained that the ‘Alfred Temile,’ a ship specifically built to transport LPG from the NLNG Plant in Bonny, arrived in Lagos on Thursday to begin discharging. There has been no interruption in NLNG’s LPG delivery to customers, as the public should know. He then advised Nigerians to refrain from conveying the impression that there is a lack of the product, which could lead to a price increase as the country is already in rough times with the Russian/Ukrainian war producing disruption in the markets and scarcity.
NLNG promised to continue production based on the feed gas.
The President of the Association stated that NLNG had given the association an assurance that it would continue to produce LPG based on the feed gas that it receives from its gas suppliers, and he added that production was expected to pick up when the flood subsided. However, he warned those in the middle of the value chain not to leverage the power of the panic that has spread throughout the market as a direct result of the flood, which has also made it more difficult to distribute manufacturing around the country.
Andy Odeh, NLNG’s General Manager of External Relations and Sustainable Development, previously issued a statement urging Nigerians not to fill their gas cylinders in a panic due to the abundance of LPG in the market. According to Odeh, the LPG supply is unaffected by the recent flooding or the announced force majeure. NLNG is the sole provider for the domestic market, which it serves exclusively, and is responsible for 40 percent of the gas supply in the domestic market. Odeh went on to say that the company’s plant was running at a lower capacity because of a decrease in gas supplies from some of its upstream gas suppliers.
Association aims to promote the use of LP Gas at an affordable cost.
The main goal of the association is to propagate the use of LP Gas in Nigeria at prices that people can afford. It also wants to protect the interests of the LP Gas industry and the Nigerian economy as a whole by advocating for public policy, creating and facilitating commercial and industrial opportunities, offering business development services, and making sure the highest standards of operational and business ethics are followed. Therefore, the president advocated for the immediate involvement of the stakeholders in order to expand the industry and for increased investment to both meet the demand and bring the price down.
Related Link
NALPGAM: Website
