In order to accelerate the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, throughout Nigeria, transport unions, petroleum marketers, and other industry stakeholders have voiced their concerns to the Federal Government about the inadequate refuelling infrastructure, insufficient financing mechanisms, and a shortage in supply.
On Wednesday, at the National CNG Adoption Conference in Abuja, these worries were voiced.
Stakeholders from the petroleum and gas sector, labour unions, road transport organisations, and allied industries were present at the conference, which was organised by various groups including the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, and the National Compressed Natural Gas Forum.
Various topics were discussed, including ways to improve infrastructure, safety measures, regulatory hurdles, and the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Nigeria.
Faruk Abdullahi, National Chairman of the National Compressed Natural Gas Forum, stressed the importance of collaboration among labour organisations, professional associations, capital investors, and Nigerian citizens who rely on affordable energy solutions. He argued that gas distributors, infrastructure developers, and conversion facilities cannot succeed on their own.
Abdullahi emphasised that it is crucial for Nigeria to move away from rhetorical initiatives and toward actual policymaking and implementation.
Vehicle operators will only convert when fuel is easily accessible, economically viable, secure, and reliable; he went on to say that having natural gas reserves does not necessarily facilitate adoption.
He urged transportation unions to educate their members, determine who is eligible for vehicle conversions, plan collective conversion projects, and lobby banks for affordable financing.
Abdullahi insisted that the actual measure of success would not be the number of conferences held but rather the amount of vehicles converted, the amount of money saved by operators, the infrastructure put in place, and the cash mobilised.
Various stakeholder groups’ representatives laid forth a detailed analysis of the present infrastructure’s serious flaws, with insufficient supply infrastructure named as the main problem.
They brought attention to the fact that compressed natural gas (CNG) stations often encounter congestion with many automobiles, citing statistics given by the upstream regulatory body, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
They pleaded with the government to stop Nigerian investors from moving their money to neighbouring nations and stressed that it takes more than N3 billion to build even one CNG station.
The lack of refuelling facilities has been brought to light by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, organization. They have observed that there are just a few of operating stations in the Lagos region, and that vehicle lines can often reach above 50 units.
According to them, most diesel engines already installed in tanker vehicles cannot be converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), and buying one would cost about N100 million, which is way out of reach for most members’ budgets.
In light of the large number of trucks using our roads, the transportation group has called for more stations to be set up along transportation corridors along the coast, arguing that the current network of 90 stations is woefully inadequate.
In addition, they wanted to know how extensive the financing was and what the interest rates were, and they hammered home the need of transferring technology and training locals to fix converted automobiles.
They pointed out that many of the imported trucks that had conversion kits on them are now inoperable because of careless maintenance.
They spoke frankly about the problems long-distance transport operators have, highlighting the lack of refuelling options between Abuja and Lagos, the 250+ vehicle queues drivers face in Abuja, and the underutilisation of some stations.
After comparing the well-established financial infrastructure accessible to the agricultural and industrial sectors, the participants wanted to know why the transport sector did not have its own dedicated bank. They stressed that this forces transport companies to pay exorbitant interest rates to commercial lending institutions for borrowing.
As a brave move that opened the door to renewable energy sources including solar power, compressed natural gas, and electric power, the stakeholders applauded the decision to remove gasoline subsidies. But they did point out major gaps in three areas: financial systems, human capital development, and infrastructure development, and they asked the conference to come up with a full statement on how to fix these problems.
The importance of the industry establishing operating procedures focused on guarantyd gas purchasers was emphasised, with the need that buyers entering into contracts show they are prepared to take delivery or face heavy financial penalties.
According to their analysis, gas storage infrastructure is a costly endeavour. They also noted that Pi-CNG has made good strides by putting demand generation first by building conversion facilities.
Compressed natural gas has the potential to be a lifesaver for millions of businesses and transportation operators in Nigeria, but only if several factors are addressed simultaneously: infrastructure development, financial resources, safety protocols, indigenous technical capacity, and reliable supply chains.