Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, have applauded Rainoil Limited for its efforts to ensure in-country utilisation and deepening of gas penetration in the nation, as it launched its Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) facility with a tank capacity of 8000MT and a fleet capacity of about 40 LPG trucks

They both spoke at the commissioning of the LPG business which will trade as ‘Rainoil Gas’.

The Minister, who commissioned the multi-product facility at Ijegun, Lagos, affirmed that Rainoil is really working in tandem with the vision of the Federal Government in making gas a preferred fuel in the country.

“I am excited at what I’m seeing here today. Everything can speak for itself. As you can see, energy is very important in the global economy and I am glad that Nigerian’s are playing key roles in the oil and gas industry,” he said.

He noted that Rainoil’s investment in gas development aligns with President Buhari’s agenda in the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), adding that the government has declared 2020 as “the year of gas”. He stated that the country has sufficient gas reserves to meet its energy needs and was happy to see Rainoil align with the governments drive to deepen LPG penetration and attain 5 Million MT of LPG consumption by 2022.

Kyari, who lamented that Nigeria is a net importer of petroleum products, announced that NNPC is ever ready and willing to support all the companies that are making effort in accomplishing the federal government developmental agenda.

“We believe that gas is our next instrument for developing our economy, and we commend Rainoil in its effort in ensuring the use of gas in the country,” he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Group Managing Director, Rainoil Limited, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie, said that the decision to invest in growing the LPG sector started in 2018.

According to him, “Rainoil Gas will meet the energy needs of customers at the retail end in the coming months. There are filling plants in process where LPG can be supplied in cylinders to consumers.”

Ogbechie believes that the expansion of Rainoil Limited perfectly aligns with the company’s vision and mission to continually proffer solutions to fill the voids in the energy sector.

Nigeria has the fastest growing LPG sector in the world with a projected LPG market size of $10 billion, with the domestic demand seeing an increase of 40%. Rainoil Gas will support the Federal Government’s policy on deepening LPG penetration and will improve domestic consumption of LPG nationwide. The business will also increase domestic storage flexibility of LPG.

He affirmed that Rainoil Gas will provide direct and indirect employment opportunities, including training, skills acquisition, transfer and enhancement. Its operations also have an added environmental protection benefit as it reduces gas flaring and encourages the use of cleaner fuels

He said that Rainoil Limited has grown over the last 20 years to include: 3 ultra-modern petroleum product storage depots- 50 million litre capacity each in Delta State, Cross River State and Lagos State; over 81 retail outlets across the country; a fleet of over 100 tank trucks for efficient delivery of products and 1 shipping vessel with a total capacity of over 20,000 metric tonnes. Rainoil Limited remains a wholly indigenous company.