WLPGA CEO talks about Nigeria and the future of LPG market

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, World LP Gas Association, Mr. James Rockall, in this interview with DAYO OKETOLA, says only a strong political will by the government can change Nigeria’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) consumption.

We have a number of recommendations for Nigeria. To me, on the short term, one million tonnes of LPG per year is really an achievable target for Nigeria. This target was something that was set at the beginning of this century, in 2001. We desired that by 2015 we should have one million tonnes of LPG being consumed per year in Nigeria. And we looked at that a few years ago, we re-validated it and we said it was still possible. We still think the same thing now. Nigerians still consume less than 150,000 tonnes per year while the Indonesian market grew by 4.5 million tonnes in five years. So, we have two years to go before 2015 and I think the one million tonnes per year target is still feasible. I think it is a challenge to get two million tonnes per year, but we can make a significant progress. One million tonnes won’t take you to the consumption level that Nigeria should be, but I will like to see a roadmap for the LPG market in Nigeria and a vision coming from the government to ensure that the target is achieved. Source: PUNCH