“You Will Save N50k”: Local, Foreign Investors Back Oil Marketers Plan to Develop 30,000 Gas Stations

• IPMAN President said domestic and foreign investors are responding to call for sponsorship to develop 30,000 petrol outlets.
• This means sooner than later, many of the stations will be transformed to dispense gas.
• The association urged FG to order CBN to release the N250 billion intervention fund for the National Gas Expansion Programme

The initiative to develop 30,000 petrol outlets across the country has been approved by domestic and foreign investors, oil marketers have said.

In addition to this, many of the stations are in the process of being changed to start dispensing gas.

This follows the federal government's decision to deploy approximately 11,000 vehicles that could run on compressed natural gas as part of preparations to soften the elimination of fuel subsidies.

Marketers plan to construct about 30,000 petrol stations

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The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okonkwo, told Punch about the marketers' plan to construct about 30,000 petrol stations to mitigate the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies.

Legit.ng earlier reported that oil marketers in Nigeria wrote to the government concerning plans to build about 30,000 gas stations to alleviate the effects of the planned subsidy removal on petrol.

The Nigerian government had perfected plans to roll out about 9,000 autogas filling stations from the existing 10,000 outlets across Nigeria in six months under the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).

The marketer also requested that the Federal Government order the Central Bank of Nigeria to release the N250 billion intervention fund for the National Gas Expansion Programme as loans to vehicle owners to purchase gas conversion kits in the letter to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

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IPMAN had explained in its letter:

Our partners, Gas Analytics & Solutions Ltd, have an agreement with the independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to co-locate natural gas dispensers on our network of over 30,000 filling stations in Nigeria.

This collaboration with IPMAN presents the most economic and expedient platform to deploy the necessary infrastructure to support a fast national roll-out of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) for vehicles.

IPMAN collaborating with investors

Okonkwo claimed that IPMAN was collaborating with its investors and that the initiative was receiving the favourable answers. He said that the ultimate alternative is the use of gas or CNG, which will reduce the financial burden in fueling a car.

He stated:

Our solution is something that will help. A distance that would have taken you between N50,000 to N70,000 when covered using PMS, you are now using N5,000 to cover such distance. So you would have saved over N50,000.

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According to him, it is very possible to cut cost when using CNG and that is the reason the association is deepening the initiative.

He also hinted that the government was showing interest in the use of autogas and expressed optimism that marketers would get the support they require from the government.

Okonkwo stated:

They (government) said they will provide about 11,000 vehicles to run on CNG and they have established a presidential committee for that and this means they are thinking about it.

Innoson motors rolls out gas-powered trucks, buses, and cars

Nigeria’s local automobile manufacturing firm, Innoson Motors, has announced its latest innovation, the Innoson LNG/CNG gas trucks, buses, and cars, at its factory in Nnewi, Anambra State.

The liquified natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) enabled vehicles were launched on Tuesday, April 20, 2023, by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) president Otunba Francis Meshioye.

Innoson Motors’ head of corporate communications, Cornel Osigwe, said the unique feature of the Innoson gas-powered brands is their ability to use CNG which is more affordable than diesel or petrol.

Source: Legit.ng