At least, 85,000 new jobs would be created for unemployed Nigerians when the Federal Government fully starts the implementation of a draft report for the development of the LPG sector.
The new jobs will be provided for people who would be involved in the provision of facilities for the sector as well as those to be engaged along the supply chain of LPG, popularly called cooking gas.
This was disclosed in Abuja by the Vice President of Nexant Incorporation, a US-based oil and gas consultancy, Mr. Bruce Burke, while presenting the final report of the Nigerian LPG Sector and Regulatory Framework Project to the Minister of Energy, Dr Edmund Daukoru.
He also emphasized the need to invest in facilities along the entire supply chain as there is need to increase the use of LPG, which includes new terminal storages and new distribution facilities.
“The refineries need to be rebuilt and there is huge employment in trucking because to get the LPG from the facilities to the end users, the only way do it in Nigeria is to truck, therefore, you need many more trucks and you need a lot of drivers for that.”
In his remarks, Manager, Energy, Nexant, Dr. Larry Song, explained that the firm conducted detailed analysis of the Nigerian LPG market, which indicated that increasing the usage of cooking gas in homes across the country from the present 50,000 and 60,000 tons per year to one million tons would require tremendous investment.
He said that meant that many new facilities would be put in place and a good number of new jobs would be created.
Song said: “Five to 6 million new cylinders will be required per year to support the consumption of a much larger LPG. That would also require investment that will be between $50-$100m.”
In his acceptance speech, Daukoru noted that the Federal Government had continued to grant import duty waiver on LPG in order to make the product available at an affordable price.
He added that government had also granted a waiver on import duty and VAT on imported facilities and equipment for the establishment of a coastal depot in Lagos, just like it mandated all LPG producers in the country to consider the supply of the product to the domestic market as a priority.
“Given the deep concern of the Federal Government over the low level of LPG consumption in the country, it has, in recent times, paid more attention to the establishment of more coastal LPG depots in the country. Indeed, all the current operating LPG plants in the country are located at the coast,” he said.
He expressed hope that the Federal Executive Council would give a speedy approval to the LPG Sector and Regulatory Framework Project, adding that the project was conducted at the cost of $550,000, which was financed by the US Trade and Development Agency.
Also speaking, the Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Petroleum Matters, Alhaji Ja�Afaru Aliyu Paki, described LPG as a good source of clean fuel energy for cooking, lighting and heating.
“More importantly, it is environmental friendly fuel energy with the advantage of reducing pollution, deforestation and rate of desert encroachment,” he added.