The Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) plans to expand its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations across the country to serve more customers and also serve as alternative fuel source that could cushion the effects of petroleum shortage.
The private Guardian newspaper reported Friday quoted Chief Executive Officer of NIPCO Venkataraman Venkatapathy to have said the company has concluded plans to establish more CNG stations by the end of this year.
At the moment, the company has CNG filling stations in Benin, capital city of Southern Edo State, with about 1,500 cars running on the alternative fuel.
According to Venkatapathy, “We are going beyond Benin, and plans are at advanced stage, I can assure you that in 2013, we will open other CNG outlets in other parts of the country.”
He reiterated the company’s commitment to promoting gas utilisation in Nigeria, stressing that NIPCO is also planning to increase its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stations to six and its Petroleum retail filling station to 225 before the end of the year.
Nigeria is a leading liquefied petroleum gas producing nation in the world, with several millions of metric tonnes.
However, most of the product is currently being flare, a situation that has resulted in environmental degradation.
