The Nigerian Federal Government has announced that it will no longer issue licenses to gas companies that lack the capacity to build pipelines for gas distribution.
Gatekeepers News reports that the government has taken this decision to discourage the transportation of compressed natural gas through the roads and to prevent similar incidents like the recent CNG explosion at Ita Oshin, Abeokuta, which resulted in the loss of one life and several vehicles.
The Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, revealed this information during his visit to Abeokuta for an on-the-spot assessment of the incident.
Ekpo, who was sent by President Bola Tinubu, explained that the country must transition from fossil fuel to CNG, but the transportation of virtual gas poses a significant threat to safety.
In light of this, he instructed the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, not to grant licenses to gas companies that cannot build pipelines to the end-users.
The government, according to him, is putting in efforts to build pipelines for seamless transportation of CNG to prevent explosions on the road and save lives and property.
“As the Federal Government, we are trying all that we can to ensure we reduce virtual transportation of gas because of the volatility of it, especially with the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano pipeline.
“I have directed the authority chief executive that for any further issuance of licence, the company should be competent enough to pipe it to their end users so that we are not exposed to this kind of danger any longer.
“As a ministry, we are looking at how we can reduce a lot of virtual conveyance of gas. That is why we are putting much in developing the gas pipeline infrastructure so that the transportation would not be virtual, but rather through the pipelines. This will reduce this kind of incident and take off the pressure on our roads,” he said.
Ekpo stressed that despite the incident, CNG remains a better alternative to petrol, urging Nigerians not to be discouraged.
“This is better than even fuel if you look at what happened in Port Harcourt where lives were lost and so many vehicles burnt. It is better we go this route,” he added.
Ekpo harped on the importance of companies using only quality cylinders for the distribution of gas to avoid incidents.
NMDPRA boss, Ahmed, assured Nigerians that the agency was working with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and the Federal Road Safety Corps to forestall similar explosions on the road.
Ahmed maintained that some of the accidents occur due to the roadworthiness of the vehicle.
He added that training programmes are being organised for truck drivers to ensure safety on the road.
