- …calls for Kyari, Presidential Advisory Council synergy
By Maryam Abeeb
As the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol hit the sky with 15 percent increase, the highest price that the country has witnessed in the history of oil marketing, a stakeholder in the energy sector, Muhammad Saleh Hassan, has said that the only way out of fuel price hike trend and scarcity of the product is shift to CNG as alternative.
CNG refers to Compressed Natural Gas. It is a gasoline and diesel fuel alternative that primarily consists of methane. The gas is associated with other fossil fuels (coal or oil) and created by methanogenic organisms in landfills. It is extracted from the source and compressed to a high pressure where it can be stored in a vehicle fuel tank.
The NNPCL had, on Tuesday, announced N617 per litre as the new official pump price of fuel. Before then, the official price had been N539 per litte as occasioned by fuel subsidy removal. The new price indicates a 15 percent increase in one fell swoop and triggered more groaning by Nigerians.
Even, there are indications that fuel sells for N620 in some states, particularly Lagos and Kano.
Hassan said that with this disparity and marketers’ penchant to determine price and make profit, stability of the price remains dicey.
He stressed that the CNG was not only the ultimate substitute to the PMS, but also the cheaper alternative to it and called on government to go for it.
The Chairman of Skymark Energy and Power Ltd stated this in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.
“The instability of fuel price, particularly the new price hike announced by the NNPCL from N539 to N617 per litre is painful. While Nigerians are still painfully feeling the pains of the recent increase, another price hike has been slammed on us with a staggering 15 percent difference. For how long can we continue like this? Hassan asked rhetorically.
“As a stakeholder, I know that the new N617 per litre price is not outrageous. It is even the cheapest globally in oil market. This means that the price can never drop in this country. In order to save the horrible situation, CNG is the way to go now. It is the best alternative. It is cheaper than PMS and doesn’t burn as fast as PMS which is even costlier,” Hassan stressed.
The Skymark Energy and Power Ltd said that, owing to incessant fuel scarcity and price instability, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL), Malam Melee Kyari, had earlier proposed CNG to replace PMS as a way to proffer solution.
