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Greenville LNG, a company producing liquefied and compressed natural gas for the Nigerian market, has officially inaugurated the first-ever Liquefied Compressed Natural Gas (L-CNG) station in the country today amidst efforts to boost domestic use of gas as a cleaner and cheaper fuel in Africa’s most populous country. Launched in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, the outlet seeks to transform the transportation landscape through enhanced gas distribution, which in turn curbs fuel shortages. The facility is expected to cater for a wide range of vehicles, including tricycles, buses, and other small vehicles, offering a cleaner and cost-effective alternative to traditional fossil fuels. “Both LNG and L-CNG offer compelling alternatives to traditional fuels, delivering 15-20% fuel cost savings and promoting eco-friendly choice,” Greenville notes in its online channels confirming the launch. “Notably, L-CNG will boost the economy by promoting local business and the transport sector in Kaduna.” As part of efforts to advance clean and cost-effective energy in Nigeria, Greenville says it is establishing 25 L-CNG distribution hubs to provide reliable energy to fuel stations across the country. The company already supplies gas to more than 25 major companies across Nigeria using over 300 LNG powered trucks as part of its innovative virtual pipeline system. Greenville has a network of LNG re-fueling stations strategically located in several parts of the country for LNG fueled trucks, tankers and buses. Founded in 2015, it installed 3 gas liquefaction trains at its Rumuji plant in Rivers state, which it commissioned in 2018. Although Nigeria holds some of the world’s biggest gas reserves estimated at over 200 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), they remain largely underdeveloped, benefiting industrialization and power generation overseas through LNG exports instead. But, boosting local consumption is now at the centre of the government’s agenda as it promotes gas as a transition and cleaner fuel. Boosting local gas consumption with reforms Nigeria’s downstream gas sector has particularly witnessed a raft of reforms since President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29 this year, amid push to boost confidence among domestic and international investors looking to do business in Africa’s biggest economy. The subsidy removal on gasoline is notably one of those changes. Cheap petrol prices, which Nigeria spent a fortune subsidising, had made it difficult for motorists to consider an alternative source of fuel such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). This also meant a poor investment case for potential investors. But with the subsidy removal levelling out the playing field for all fuels, Nigeria’s transport sector presents tremendous growth opportunities for the CNG and LNG industry. However, while subsidy removal incentivises motorists to go for a cheaper and cleaner fuel in gas, limited investments over the years also mean limited gas infrastructure, which could stifle growth opportunities for Nigeria’s domestic gas market. To bolster the shortfall in critical gas infrastructure, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) partnered earlier this year with NIPCO Gas Limited to deploy CNG stations across the country. The NNPC-NIPCO partnership, signed in August, aims at expanding Nigeria’s CNG infrastructure as it pushes for improved access to CNG, while speeding up the adoption of cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for private cars and vehicles used for public transport. NIPCO Gas Limited already operates 14 CNG stations across Nigeria, and has converted over 7,000 vehicles to run on CNG, mostly in Benin City. NNPC is betting on NIPCO’s technical expertise and field experience to drive and expand the initiative. The project will be rolled out in phases. The first phase, supporting intra-city transportation, targets 21 CNG stations by Q1 2024. The second phase, to be ready in Q4 2024, will cover 35 CNG stations, servicing inter-city transportation. NNPC plans to bolster the programme with an additional 56 stations through its retail outlets across the country. Once fully operational, the stations can service over 200,000 vehicles daily, the state oil firm said, adding it expects more oil marketing companies from the private sector to participate in expanding CNG penetration and availability in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) has announced changes to the board of its subsidiaries, and appointed the Founder & CEO of Petralon Energy, Mr. Ahonsi Unuigbe as the new Board Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The appointment is effective 27 September 2023, following the retirement of Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, OON. Ahonsi has previously served on the NGX Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director since April 2021. Ahonsi’s appointment is a demonstration of his leadership and entrepreneurial ingenuity, validated by its vast expertise. Over the past twenty years, he has established himself as a business leader and seasoned professional, whose experience spans across sectors such as banking, finance, energy, telecoms, manufacturing and the public sector. He began his career as an investment banker, working with banks such as Citibank in the UK and Nigeria and later Standard bank / Stanbic IBTC, with stints in the public sector, during which time he successfully executed complex project finance transactions, thereby helping to raise over $2bn as capital for private and public sector projects in Nigeria, notable amongst which were the $150 million concessional World Bank funding for Edo state during his tenure as pioneer Commissioner for Budget, Planning, and Economic Development. Ahonsi also served as a founding executive at First Hydrocarbon Nigeria (FHN). As a Chief Finance Officer and Executive Director, he raised over $450m in debt and equity finance within 3 years and instituted best-in-class risk management frameworks and financial management processes respectively. Since founding Petralon Energy in 2014, Ahonsi managed to raise over $60m over 2021 and 2022 to consolidate the company’s oil assets portfolio. Under his leadership, Petralon Energy has sealed multilateral partnerships and investments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa managed to build a diverse portfolio of onshore and offshore producing assets. Commenting on his appointment, Ahonsi stated “I am pleasantly honoured by this appointment and fully understand the enormous responsibility that this new role places on my shoulders. Chairing this important Board at this specific time in the Exchange’s evolution is both an opportunity and call to service in building our market, economy, and nation. With the strong foundation laid by my predecessor, bringing about reforms and deepening policy frameworks that would help to strengthen the market for further growth and development are easily achievable. I therefore seek the support and cooperation of all stakeholders towards placing this very important institution on an even stronger pedestal.” A Lifetime member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), Ahonsi holds a B.A degree in Economics from the University of Sussex, UK, and an MSc in International Securities and Investment Banking from the ISMA Centre, University of Reading, UK, and is also a recipient of the prestigious Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship Award.
