Butane Energy Limited, one of the gas-based businesses supported with an equity investment by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has opened its 100 metric tonnes Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage and Bottling Plant in Kabukawa layout, Kastina State.
The project was commissioned on Saturday by the Kastina State Governor, Rt. Hon Aminu Bello Masari and the motivation of the promoters is to help address supply constraints in the domestic LPG market in the Northern part of Nigeria through its plant operations/bulk storage, transportation/ distribution, cylinder filling and bulk retail.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote explained that the project in Kastina State is the first leg of its partnership with Butane Energy Limited with the other LPG bottling plants and depots to be rolled out in 2022.
He stated that Butane Energy’s LPG storage and bottling plants would come up in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Bauchi States while six depots would be located in Zamfara, Jigawa, Gombe, Plateau, Niger and Nasarawa states.
Wabote confirmed that Section 70(h) of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010 mandates the Board to assist local contractors and Nigerian companies to develop their capabilities and capacities to further the attainment of the goal of developing Nigerian Content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
He stated that Nigeria still has one of the lowest per capita LPG consumption in Africa and a lot of opportunities exist for increasing LPG penetration and utilization in Nigeria.
In his comments, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva hinted that the commissioning of the plant is directly linked to the declaration of Decade of Gas by President Muhammadu Buhari, which seeks to reinforce Nigeria’s aspiration to leverage on its gas resources estimated at 206 Trillion Cubic Feet to develop Nigeria’s national industrial, commercial and agricultural base.
According to him, “it is this declaration that has spurred agencies under my Ministry to develop several gas development and utilization projects anchored on deepening gas penetration.”
The Minister was represented at the event by Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and he added that “the deliberate focus of this administration to develop the Gas Sector is largely the driving force behind NCDMB commercial intervention in partnering with the private sector, to establish Butane LPG bottling plant in several Northern states including Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Niger, and the FCT.”
In his comments, Chairman of Butane Energy Limited, Alhalji Isa Mohammed Inuwa explained that the motivations of the project are to preserve the vegetation and discourage the use of wood to heat food, create job opportunities for the teeming youths and grow the business profitably.
He underscored the importance of NCDMB’s equity investment to the project’s development, adding that the plant in Kastina could be expanded to 160 metric tonnes. He added: “Our aspiration under the first phase is to establish five plants – in Kano, 180 tonnes; Bauchi, 120 tonnes; Abuja 180 tonnes and in Kaduna, 180 tonnes. Our expectation is that by September 2022, the firm would have five plants with total storage capacity of 820metric tonnes.