Techno Oil’s Gas Cylinder Plant Commences Operation
With the inauguration of Techno Oil’s ultra-modern Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder manufacturing plant by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at the weekend, the firm has commenced production of cooking gas cylinders of all sizes to serve both the local and international market.
The plant, located at Kajola community, along Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos, is the largest LPG manufacturing plant in West Africa and one of the largest in the world, and has the capacity to produce five million tons of cooking gas cylinder per year.
At the inauguration ceremony, samples of Techno Oil’s LPG cylinders were displayed and the guests which included heads of government agencies and parastatals, LPG operators, heads of financial institutions and other stakeholders commended the firm.
“This commissioning is a landmark moment for Nigeria’s mid-downstream gas sub-sector, and a reminder that we must regard our abundant domestic gas resource as an important component of economic growth and national prosperity,” Osinbajo said in his keynote message.
“Techno Oil’s investment auspiciously converges with our administration’s efforts to speedily diversify our economy, especially through domestic and indigenous solutions.
“Let me assure you that the federal government will continue to actively support every effort to promote the use of LPG in Nigeria, as well as create and maintain an effective and catalytic regulatory environment,” he added.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Techno Oil Limited, Mrs Nkechi Obi, said the LPG plant was built to bridge the infrastructural gap hindering the cooking gas adoption in Nigeria.
According to Obi, there is also a growing concern amongst stakeholders related to the saturation of the market with old, expired and sub-standard cylinders that have gained entry into our country through the activities of unscrupulous individuals and entities who show no regard for human lives and the Nigerian economy.
“Techno Oil is on a mission to correct this anomaly in collaboration with critical stakeholders as we are poised to deploy cylinders of international quality into the Nigerian market, produced in Nigeria for Nigerians.
“The growth population of cylinders in the country is less than two million. Our current production capacity is five million; instantly, Nigeria becomes a net exporter of cylinders in West Africa”, she stressed.
She added that the firm’s 12, 000MT LPG Terminal construction has 90 per cent completion and would be inaugurated by November, 2019, saying they have deployed over 50 units of LPG Skids mounted stations and haulage trucks to eradicate the age long trilemma of accessibility and awareness.
Obi, also stated that, in just four months, the plant will produce one million cylinders, saying “this means that we have the capacity to meet the country’s requirements and export to other West African countries”.
