The fire that occurred on Tuesday at Shell’s Gbaran facility in Bayelsa might lead to an increase in the price of Liquefied Natural Gas in Nigeria.
This comes amidst a sharp increase in the country’s Liquefied Petroleum gas prices.
One of the facilities crucial to Nigeria’s LNG gas feedstock project, processing nearly 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas daily, Shell’s Gbaran facility, was rocked by an explosion on Tuesday.
Shell reassured that despite the incident, there would be no immediate operational shutdown of the facility.
Meanwhile, the company announced on Tuesday its plans to investigate the incident’s details and assess any potential impacts on its operations.
“We are actively monitoring reports of smoke detected near our Gbaran Central Processing Facility in Bayelsa State.
“While the source appears to be external to our facility, we are in close communication with regulatory authorities to look into the incident and ensure the safety of the surrounding communities,” it said.
The annual increase in the price of a 12.5-kilogram cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, is 46.88 percent.
The price of LPG has remained high despite the federal government’s VAT waivers for product imports since last year.
Nigeria depends on imported LPG to fulfill 50% of its consumption.
