Sola Adewumi, the president of the Nigerian Bunker Traders Association, has indicated that if foreigners continue to dominate the global bunkering market, which is expected to reach $210 billion by 2027, Nigeria will lose out.
According to him, foreigners are responsible for the majority of bunkering activities because funds dedicated to the purchase of equipment, such as ship acquisition funds, are few.
During the Nigerian Content Midstream-Downstream Oil and Gas Summit, he remarked this.
“The bunker business requires so much finance that Nigerian banks are unwilling to fund the industry’s operators,” he claimed.
He claimed that Nigeria has a negative image in the bunkering business, claiming that there are several unprofessional activities focusing on bunker supply quality, which he claims is widespread.
“Suffice to say, one of the reasons our group was created was to bring sanity to the supply chain,” he stated.
Adewumi also bemoaned the regulatory efforts of NIMASA, NPA, and the Nigerian Navy, claiming that their actions sometimes have a negative impact on Nigerian bunkering operations.
“The bunkering industry is huge all over the world. In terms of job possibilities and GDP growth, the country stands to benefit greatly. He stated that “it is critical to eradicate the activities of unprofessional dealers and suppliers and to include real operators in official plans that would make Nigeria the African bunkering hub.”
Nkechi Obi, the Managing Director of Techno Gas Limited, lamented the decline in local Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, consumption, claiming that more than half of the country’s demand is being imported.
She stated that several policies targeted at increasing local patronage are not being executed, urging the federal government to create a robust policy known as the cylinder exchange program to increase domestic LPG cylinder penetration.
She, on the other hand, expressed reservations about the country’s capacity to meet the five million metric tonnes of domestic LPG usage target by the end of 2022.
“An intervention in the gas sector is required.” Foreign exchange, not naira, should be used to transfer funds. The I&E window should allow us to obtain funding. Many of the cylinders are imported from other countries. Domestic gas production is declining as a result of high gas prices, which has distorted demand,” she explained.
While delivering his presentation on “Gas as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth,” Abdulmalik Halilu, General Manager, Research and Statistics, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), “Gas is a developmental commodity, not a trade commodity,” he said, adding that the narrative is changing as a result of the Federal Government’s decade-long gas push.
Prof. Akpofure Rimi-Ruke, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum University in Warri, stated that gas consumption in the country is still very low, emphasizing the necessity to transport gas to where it is needed in the most seamless and effective manner possible.
He pointed out that, despite the country’s gas distribution network, there are still obstacles to successful distribution, emphasizing the need to reduce the risk of transporting gas in order to promote and assist sustainable economic development in Nigeria and beyond.
