Nigeria renews push for one million CNG vehicles

Nigeria’s government has renewed its push to deploy one million compressed natural gas-powered vehicles nationwide, directing officials to speed up investment in refuelling infrastructure and vehicle conversions as it seeks to lower transport costs. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo gave the directive in Abuja while receiving progress reports from the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, known as PiCNG EV, and the Decade of Gas Secretariat. He urged the bodies to expand infrastructure and strengthen programmes to increase adoption, saying the government’s Auto CNG policy should deliver tangible benefits, particularly through lower transport fares. The one-million-vehicle figure is a government target; the reports do not give a current nationwide total or a timetable for reaching it. Ekpo said the effort was intended to make transport more affordable following the removal of the petrol subsidy. He also called for sustained investment in refuelling stations and conversion facilities. Ekpo said domestic gas consumption had exceeded two billion cubic feet per day for the first time in Nigeria’s history. He described...