Updated: LNG vehicles can travel 2000km without refilling – NGEP

LNG vehicles can travel 2000km without refilling – NGEP

…Fuel subsidy cartel frustrating autogas project

Long distance vehicles running on liquefied natural gas can travel up to 2000km without bothering about refilling, the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) has said.

It also alerted to the activities of a cartel in the oil and gas sector working hard to thwart the introduction of CNG/LNG-powered vehicles as a way to ease fuel subsidy removal hardship on the masses.
Chairman of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), Dr Mohammed Ibra­him, made the disclosures in Lagos.
He spoke at a training capacity building programme organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA).
He said, “The powerful sub­sidy cartel had frustrated every single aspect of our work. They tell people, ‘Don’t mind them; it would never happen. Govern­ment will never remove subsidy.’ That is exactly what they have been saying for three and a half years until President Bola Tinu­bu did it on May 29.
“Even up till last week, some of them were still saying they might bring subsidy back. So, they have not given up.”
The NGEP chairman who spoke on ‘Fuel subsidy removal: Autogas/Electric Vehicles as Alternatives’ in­sisted that the autogas alternative for vehicles had come to stay.
The NGEP chairman in­sisted that the gas alternative for vehicles had come to stay.
He however challenged the government to be consistent with its policy, stressing that the government needed to sustain the autogas project in the interest of the majority.
“Government has to decide on what it wants to do. Our point is that we have to sustain the programme.”
Ibrahim also maintained that existing filling stations could accommodate the autogas facility.
Indeed, he said 9,000 out of 10,000 registered filling stations in Nigeria are qualified to be­come multi-fuel stations where vehicle owners could refuel for autogas, in addition to petrol/diesel refuelling as well as serve as charging stations for electric vehicles.
According to him, most of the filling stations are retrofit­ted to sell Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed Natu­ral Gas (CNG) and provide charging port for Electric Ve­hicles, alongside petrol and other existing products.
“Under our NGEP programme, we have what we call the multi-fuel scheme whereby we do not intend to shut down the current petrol stations that we have in the country.
“We have carried out an audit whereby 9,000 of 10,000 of them qualify to retrofit to become multi-fuel stations,” he said.
Ibrahim also spoke on the benefits of using the autogas for vehicles on a long haul.
He also said the country required over five million conversion kits, which would create about 12.5 million jobs.
“Just imagine that you have a truck from Lagos to Maiduguri, from Enugu to Kano that will not refuel on the way. They can go 2000km without refueling.”
Ibrahim recalled the cynicism of some stakeholders at the beginning of the project.
“Four years ago when we started the journey, we assem­bled all the petrol stations’ own­ers, we assembled all the banks in this country, we assembled all the truck owners, all the trans­port associations, but they told us it would never happen.
“Even without government removing subsidy in fuel, the CNG is N125 per LCM against N650 for petrol.
Ibrahim said that there is N250 billion of NGEP fund domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the purpose of importation of conversion kits and related products.
He however regretted that the apex bank management frus­trated their attempt to access the fund.