CNG News: December 18, 2009

NIPCO to complete its CNG plant in Nigeria

NIPCO Plc has said that work has reached about 95 per cent completion on its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) plant in Benin Edo State, Nigeria. The firm had assured stakeholders that the plant would come on stream by the first quarter of 2010 According to the statement, what remains of the project was the proper testing of all the installed equipment as required by regulation in consideration of the volatile nature of gas. Also, technical commissioning would be required to ensure that all necessary measures are put in place in line with international best practices for gas distribution and marketing. NIPCO explained that the scheduled takeoff of the plant was very timely as it will offer a cheaper fuel alternative to consumers at a time many of them are expressing fears of paying more for fuel under the planned deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Natural gas would also offer customers cleaner and more environmentally friendly source of power, said the statement. The special Adviser to the President On Petroleum Matters Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah recently commended the efforts of the company and expressed government desire to commission the stations as soon as they are ready, more so when it is cheaper to power vehicles on gas than petrol. Dr. Egbogah also said the CNG project is one of the efforts of government in partnership with private sector to sustain the deregulation program especially taking into consideration the abundant gas resources in the country. The Presidential Adviser explained that conscious plan are on to encourage NIPCO and other would be investors to come on board so that more CNG stations will be set up in other states of the federation