The Nigeria LP Gas Association (NLPGA) has said that the continued dispute between Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will cause unnecessary hardship to the Nigerian masses.

One of the NLNG vessels detained by NIMASA is the ‘Gaz Providence’ which discharges LPG (cooking gas) for domestic consumption.

Nigerians depend on LPG for cooking and if this dispute is not resolved soon, there would be scarcity of the product and this would result in high gas prices.

For a country blessed with abundance of underutilized gas reserves and also seeking to put an end to gas flaring, there should be no reason why government should allow the face off to continue this long, with its attendant consequence on LPG availability for domestic and industrial use.

NIMASA is a government agency, as well as the NLNG whose majority shareholder is the government owned NNPC.

NLNG is the major producer of LPG for domestic consumption, who has since the last six years been committed to supplying 150,000MT per annum of the product for the Nigerian market.

The dispute between NLNG and NIMASA stems from the non-payment of certain statutory levies NIMASA claims is owed to it by NLNG.

The owners of Gaz Providence have paid the required statutory fees but the vessel is yet to be released.

The NLPGA will like to use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to intervene in this matter. The current face-off between the two
organization has enormous consequences and would most definitely have a negative impact on Nigerians.