Nigeria’s oil and gas firm, Techno Oil Limited, has unveiled its TechnoGas Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at the 31st World LPG Forum holding in Houston, Texas, United States of America.
The unveiling of the cylinders formally makes Nigeria to join the big league of nations manufacturing LPG cylinders for export.
No fewer than 1,500 participants drawn from 72 countries and 89 companies exhibited various products with Techno Oil being the only African company that exhibited its cylinder products.
Senior Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Gbite Adeniji, who visited the Techno Oil and Gas stand at the event expressed his delight that Nigerian companies are steadily making appearances on the world stage.
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In a speech at a ceremony to unveil the cylinders, the Executive Vice-Chair of Techno Oil, Mrs Nkechi Obi, said she was excited that Nigeria could now export cylinders.
Obi said that it was a fulfilling moment for her to announce to the world that made-in-Nigeria LPG cylinders could now be exported abroad, rather than the trend where for over five decades since independence Nigerians continue to import cylinders and deplete its foreign reserves.
“We’re using this forum to announce to the world that TechnoGas cylinders have hit the market and we’re ready to meet every demand, local and international,” Obi said
Obi, whose company recently completed the building of Nigeria’s largest LPG cylinder manufacturing plant, said that TechnoGas cylinders would help the Federal Government to save its resources in importing cylinders and their accessories.
“The era of Nigerians depending on sub-standard cylinders imported from India, China and other countries is over for Nigerian and West African households,” Obi said.
She, however, lamented that the world was leaving Nigeria behind in LPG adoption, in spite of Nigeria’s top position in the league of gas-rich nations.
Obi noted that some industrialists had taken the initiative to promote LPG adoption in Nigeria, in a bid to save the scarce resources expanded by the Nigerian government annually in the importation of kerosene and other fuels for use in homes.
According to her, while the aim of using firewood, charcoal, animal dung etc. is to get food cooked, the Nigerian woman and her household are unknowingly exposed to inhalation of a myriad of harmful gases on daily basis.
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“It doesn’t end there, these gases have far-reaching effects on the environment as they contribute to global warming and climate change.’’
The Techno Oil chief argued that global warming and climate change were directly responsible for increased global temperatures, flooding, food insecurity and desertification.
“A paradigm shift is required and there is no better time than now because up to 70 per cent of Nigerian women spend time cooking, using mostly solid fuels, instead of adopting LPG.
“More worrisome is the fact that Nigeria has one of the highest proven reserves of gas and is also one of the highest exporters of LPG in Africa,’’ she added.