The management of the Nigeria LNG Limited has stated that marketers lack adequate infrastructure to take up its Liquefied Petroleum Gas supply.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association had stated earlier that the main factor responsible for the increase in the cost of cooking gas was the lack of adequate supply.
According to the marketers claim, foreign investors underestimated the demand in the Nigerian market which has resulted in marketers venturing into importation of the product.
They urged the government to allow the NLNG to increase the supply of gas to the market in order to cut the costs.
Reports from consumers revealed that the cost of refilling a 12.5-kilogramme cylinder of LPG had risen to as high as N7000 in some states.
Also, the marketers are seeking the removal of cooking gas from the list of commodities subject to the payment of value-added tax.
In his response to the claim by the IPMAN, the marketing manager of NLNG, Austin Ogbogbo, stated that the marketers lack sufficient infrastructure to take up the gas the company supplied.
He said, “NLNG has grown its capacity from 50,000 metric tonnes per annum to 450,000 metric tonnes per annum of LPG in the past 14 years.
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“Nigeria needs 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum, but even the 450,000 we produce cannot be absorbed by the market’s current infrastructure.
“We only operate in the midstream sub-sector of the industry so we are only responsible for supplying to the market.
“The downstream players are responsible for the distribution to the end-users, and also building the infrastructure to ensure it is done efficiently. It is out of our scope.”
He gave assurance to the public that the NLNG would increase its LPG capacity if it confirmed that distributors could take up increased supply.
