Fuel Subsidy: FG Considering Autogas As Alternative Petrol, Says Sylva

The Federal Government is considering autogas as an alternative to the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

This is according to the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Newsnight amid plans by the government to remove subsidy on petrol.

He explained that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Economic Council, is also leading an effort in collaboration with state governors to discuss the government’s plans to unveil palliatives to the people.

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“So we have to sit back together to now thinking about the process that can have the least effect on the people. That is why we are thinking of a lot of options like giving them an alternative fuel which will be cheaper and that is why we are looking at autogas,” the Minister said.

“We believe that will give an alternative so that if they find PMS too expensive, then they can have an alternative. Of course, we are looking at the impact it would have on their personal income and expenditure.

“The Vice President is also leading an effort, discussing palliatives to the people. All those are the things we are discussing. We need to bring everything together before we can now come out and say look this is the package we have and this is the policy direction towards subsidy removal.”

The Federal Government had in December 2022 rolled out an autogas programme called the National Gas Expansion Programme.

The programme involves the conversion of fuel-powered cars, generators from petrol to gas. It is aimed at deepening domestic usage of natural gas in its various forms.

After the launch, the government said that vehicle owners in the country will pay N250,000 to convert their cars to autogas.

Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had explained that vehicle owners will have different payment plans to covert their cars to autogas.

“The cost varies,” Derefaka said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “So, in terms of cost implication, it depends on the cylinder of the vehicle and of course, for a typical SUV cylinder, it is a bit higher but on the average, it is around N200,000 to N250,000 and this is for a four-cylinder vehicle but it becomes a little bit higher for a six-cylinder SUV vehicle.”