RAINOIL Limited has built a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank with capacity for 8,000 metric tons (MT) and a fleet of 40 LPG trucks.
The LPG business, which will trade as Rainoil Gas, was inaugurated in Lagos by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, alongside the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari.
Sylva described Rainoil Limited as a leading integrated company in the downstream, noting that facility is in line with the Federal Government’s policy and drive to maximise use of gas and deepening of consumption of LPG, that is, cooking gas.
The minister applauded Rainoil for ensuring in-country utilisation and penetration of LPG, adding that the launching of the 8000MT facility and 40 LPG trucks would go a long way to realising the government’s objective of maximising value from gas and jobs creation.
The multi-product facility located at Ijegun, Lagos, the minister said, is in tandem with the vision of the government in making gas the preferred fuel.
He said: “I am excited at what I’m seeing. Everything can speak for itself. As you can see, energy is very important in the global economy and I am glad that Nigerians are playing key roles in the oil and gas industry.
“Rainoil’s investment in gas development aligns with President Muhammadu 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 aligned with the governments drive to deepen LPG penetration and attain five million metric tonnes 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 the companies that are making effort in meeting the Federal Government’s 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 added.
The Group Managing Director, Rainoil Limited, Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie, said 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 months ahead. There are filling plants in process where LPG could be supplied in cylinders to consumers.
Ogbechie believes that the expansion of Rainoil aligns with the company’s vision and mission to proffer solutions to fill the voids in the 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 percent. 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.
‘’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 Rainoil has grown over the last 20 years with three ultra-modern petroleum product storage depots of 50-million litre capacity each in Delta, Cross River and Lagos states; over 81 retail outlets across the country; a fleet of over 100 trucks for efficient delivery of products and one shipping vessel with a capacity of over 20,000Mt.
