THE Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources (FMPR) has met with officials of a Chinese company, Wen Advisor, to firm up an agreement to to build compressed natural gas-powered (CNG) stations in Nigeria.
The pact will also see the firm deploy CNG-enabled vehicles across the country.
This partnership is expected to increase the availability of CNG-powered vehicles in the country, as President Tinubu had mandated all federal government institutions to procure CNG-powered vehicles to provide alternatives to rising fuel costs.
When receiving the delegation from the Chinese firm on behalf of the federal government in Abuja, the permanent secretary at the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nicholas Ella, said Nigeria offered huge business potential for investments in CNG-powered vehicles.
He said the investment opportunities in using natural gas were enormous, adding that these had received a boost following the directive of the President on CNG-powered vehicles, according to a statement issued by his Personal Assistant, John Ameh, on Wednesday, May 22.
“Ella explained that the President’s policy on gas infrastructure development tallied with global best practices in the use of cleaner energy for environmental sustainability,” the statement read in part.
Also speaking at the meeting, the director of the Upstream Department in the ministry, Kamoru Busari, told the Chinese team that the federal government was ready to provide an enabling environment for its investment to thrive.
Earlier, the Managing Director, Wen Advisor, Haikuo Weng, said he was in Nigeria with his team to explore possible investment areas in the CNG-powered vehicles project.
Weng explained that to develop a CNG gap pump station, it was necessary to ascertain whether local buses in Nigeria currently use liquefied natural gas or compressed natural gas.
The statement stated that in an earlier letter of collaboration for what Weng called ‘Green Transportation Solutions,’ he pledged to introduce CNG buses with competitive pricing.
To assist Nigeria in its energy transition efforts in the transportation sector, Weng said he was in the country to “assess the potential for establishing natural gas refuelling stations.”
President Tinubu’s recent directive on using CNG-powered vehicles was in tandem with Nigeria’s effort to transition to cleaner energy as CNG-enabled vehicles have been considered to produce lower emissions, thereby safeguarding the environment.
The policy also seeks to present a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers.
Also, Nigeria has over 209 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, and the federal government has repeatedly stated that the country would use gas as its transition fuel, being more of a gas-based nation than crude oil.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.