The Federal Government has renewed its commitment to deploy one million compressed natural gas-powered vehicles across Nigeria to reduce transportation costs. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, gave the directive in Abuja while receiving progress reports from the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles and the Decade of Gas Secretariat.
Ekpo said the government must translate its autogas policy into tangible benefits for Nigerians, particularly lower transport fares following the removal of petrol subsidy. He tasked the leadership of both bodies with identifying critical interventions, expanding infrastructure and strengthening programmes to increase nationwide adoption of compressed natural gas.
Compressed natural gas is generally cheaper than petrol on an energy-equivalent basis and has been promoted by the Federal Government as an alternative that could reduce transport operators' fuel expenses and ease pressure on commuters. However, the benefits depend on the availability of refuelling stations, affordable vehicle conversion, reliable gas supply and operators passing savings on to passengers.
Ekpo said Nigeria's abundant gas resources offered an opportunity to lower transportation costs, increase domestic gas consumption and stimulate economic growth, noting the country has gas reserves with an index of over 80 years. The Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on CNG and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, said the initiative would intensify investments and programmes to expand refuelling infrastructure and increase the number of vehicles converted to run on gas.