The switch from the use of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to autogas will save about N1.84tn monthly for commercial vehicle operators in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said.
It disclosed this in a document put together by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, where it explained that a typical commercial Uber car could save N274,176 every month by running on autogas, not petrol.
The document, titled, ‘Autogas Conversion – NITT Initiative and Strategy’, was obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday at a one-day stakeholders’ engagement forum that focused on autogas as alternative fuel for transportation in Nigeria.
Autogas fuel, which could be Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Compressed Natural Gas, is a mixture of hydrocarbons that changes from a gaseous to liquid state when compressed at moderate pressure or chilled.
In the new report, the transport institute stated that about 12 to 20 million vehicles were in Nigeria, adding that 57 per cent of them were for commercial purposes.
It stated, “Taking the lowest figure of 12 million vehicles, 57 per cent of this number is 6,840,000. When multiplied with the over N270,000 which a typical commercial Uber car could save monthly if run on autogas, it implies that the 6.84 million transporters could save about N1.84tn every month if they run their vehicles on autogas.”
Since the removal of subsidy on petrol, oil marketers and other stakeholders in the transport and oil sectors had been devising measures to help reduce the high cost currently being spent on fuel, as the halt in subsidy led to a jump in the pump price of petrol from N198/litre to over N500/litre.
The NITT noted that with the deployment and usage of autogas, as also championed by oil marketers, the cost being spent by motorists on petrol was going to drop significantly. Most motorists in Nigeria run their vehicles on petrol.
