Marketer Advises FG On Cooking Gas Utilisation

A Petroleum marketer in Port Harcourt, Mr Desmond Nnaji has urged the Federal Government to reduce levies on cylinders and its accessories to encourage the use of cooking gas.

Nnaji, a member of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) who gave the advice in an interaction with The Tide in Port Harcourt last Friday, said that the abundant gas in the country would be meaningful to the economy, should more Nigerians use cooking gas.

According to him, gas is ideal for cooking because it is more economical and can mitigate the depletion of the country’s forest reserves.

Nnaji maintained that Nigerian households are becoming more informed about the use of cooking gas, but that the cost of obtaining the accessories have discouraged many.

He said, “the massive use of gas for cooking will reduce the huge foreign exchange spent on kerosene yearly and will boost the country’s external reserves, besides its economical and forest reserve values”.

The petroleum marketer posited that the Nigeria market was large enough and could drastically reduce importation of kerosene, if there is remarkable disposition towards the use of cooking gas.

According to him, Nigerians consume over 11 million litres of kerosene daily and that this can be diverted to other purposes, if government encourages the use of cooking gas.

The Independent Petroleum Marketer therefore urged government to reduce levies on gas accessories, and take advantage of the abundant gas resource available in the country to encourage the use of cooking gas.

Corlins Walter