Nigeria, a country with the tenth-largest natural gas reserves in the world— and two trans-continental pipelines being built to take its gas to foreign countries— has just launched an effort to utilize some of that gas to improve the lives of its own people. The National Grassroots LPG Penetration Program is an effort to “expand access to Liquified Petroleum Gas to 5 million households” by 2030.
Speaking at the launch on July 28, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo declared that “the promise of Nigeria’s abundant natural gas must translate into dignity, safety, and improved well-being for our people... No family should spend valuable hours searching for firewood when our nation is richly endowed with gas resources capable of powering safer and more dignified lives.” He also noted the resulting degradation of the environment.
The devil may be in the details with this project, however. ExxonMobile and TotalEnergies are leading partners in this Public-Private-Partnership endeavor. And there has so far been no announcement about the stoves needed to burn the LPG, which most poor families lack.
