- Title: Nigerians turn to gas to power their generators as petrol prices soar
- Date: 27th July 2023
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (JULY 20, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OJAH JUSTICE PUTTING ON HIS LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS (LPG) POWERED GENERATOR GENERATOR LPG CYLINDER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENTREPRENEUR, OJAH JUSTICE, SAYING: ‘’Where I do fill my 12.5KG gas cylinder, it is 12,000 naira to fill it, and that will give me an average of 40 hours. If I am buying petrol that I will use for 40 hours, that means I am buying petrol of not less than 50 something thousand or even more. So if you check the difference, the difference is even much, so it saves me more money.’’ OJAH JUSTICE WALKING AWAY VARIOUS OF OJAH WALKING INTO HIS LIVING ROOM AND PUTTING ON HIS TELEVISION (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENTREPRENEUR, OJAH JUSTICE, SAYING: ‘’I met a technician that came to convert, he removed my old carburettor and fixed in the new hybrid carburettor that runs with gas and fuel, so that is how I converted it. I saw the advert and had to purchase it.’’ CAR DRIVING INTO PETROL STATION VARIOUS OF WOMAN STANDING NEXT TO HER CAR BUYING PETROL/PETROL ATTENDANT POURING PETROL INTO CAR WOMAN LOOKING AT DIGITAL METRE DIGITAL METRE COUNTING LITRES AND COST OF PETROL (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, RUTH AGENA, SAYING: ‘’Now I buy in bits, I don’t even want to think about how much it will cost me to fill a tank of 54 litres. Judging from the fact that it has affected every area of my life socially, economically and otherwise.’’ VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT PAYING FOR PETROL DIGITAL METRE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, BENJAMIN AGBAMU, SAYING: ‘’It is a drastic change, and it is not just hard, it’s been real hard though. Everything has changed from the tyre you pump to the hair salon you go to, whatever has to do with fuel, prices have been hiked. But we believe that with time…let’s give the president some time to see if things can finally change and there will be a Nigeria.’’ (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, JOHN BLESSING, SAYING: ‘’Majority of us are rather parking their cars at home and taking public vehicles just because to get a car now is now as important as to buy fuel.’’ LAGOS, NIGERIA (JULY 25, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING ON THE FREE EXPRESS WAY IN LAGOS LAGOS, NIGERIA (JULY 18, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MECHANIC, ALABI OLUWASEUN FIXING A GAS CARBURETTOR FOR A CLIENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENERATOR MECHANIC, ALABI, OLUWASEUN, SAYING: ‘’This cylinder now, you have to take it away from heat because this hose we are using is rubber, anytime that it melts and gas tries to escape out of it, it might cause fire, so that is one challenge. And the other challenge is this particular gas chamber that they are just bringing in now, we have not known how durable it will be compared to the carburettor we removed.’’ ABUJA, NIGERIA (JULY 25, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ANALYST, KELVIN EMMANUEL WORKING IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANALYST, DAIRY HILLS LIMITED, KELVIN EMMANUEL, SAYING: ‘’We are expecting that the consumption of LPG per capita is actually going to increase in Nigeria but the question we have to ask ourselves is are we going to see innovation when it comes to small household, domestic gas generators as compared to retrofitting petrol generators into gas.’’ LAGOS, NIGERIA (JULY 18, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMALL BUSINESS RUNNING ON GAS POWERED GENERATOR VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING
- Embargoed: 10th August 2023 10:06
- Keywords: Economy Gas LPG Petrol Subsidy
- Location: Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria
- City: Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Africa,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001032227072023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: When he first heard about Nigeria's fuel subsidy removal and saw the petrol price triple, Justice Ojah thought he would stop using a generator, which powers his two-storey house in Abuja, to save on bills.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur has been relying on petrol to escape frequent power cuts before the West African country removed the popular but costly subsidy.
President Bola Tinubu's bold decision forced Ojah and other Nigerians to seek cheaper alternatives.
"I saw an advert and called then a technician who came over to my place and changed my carburetor to this new hybrid carburetor I have now," Ojah told Reuters.
It cost him about 50,000 naira ($63.45) to replace the device, which now allows him to easily switch between liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as propane, and petrol, a major improvement in terms of cost.
"Where I fill my 12.5-kg gas cylinder, it is 12,000 naira to fill it, and that will give me an average of 40 hours," Ojah said, adding that petrol for the same amount of hours would cost at least 50,000 naira.
Alabi Oluwaseun, a mechanic in Lagos who converts generators to run on gas, told Reuters that last month he has worked for 20 households and that he was in talks with more clients.
Despite the popularity of the service, Oluwaseun said he had concerns about the security and durability of the gas carburettor, which has been on the market for less than two months.
"This cylinder now, you have to take it away from heat because this hose we are using is rubber, anytime that it melts and gas tries to escape out of it, it might cause fire," he said.
The other concern is that gas burns quicker because it is lighter than petrol, according to Kelvin Emmanuel, an analyst at Dairy Hills Limited, a public policy consulting firm.
"We are expecting that the consumption of LPG per capita is actually going to increase in Nigeria," Emmanuel said.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, imports almost all its refined fuel due to inadequate refining capacity and neglect of existing refineries.
(Abraham Achirga, Seun Sanni, Angela Ukomadu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None