Stakeholders advocate safety standards, best practices in CNG sector

FG commits to subsidise conversion by 50%

Towards total adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles, stakeholders have urged the government at all levels to put in place necessary safety rules and implementation of best practices for the safety of users, storage and manufacturing of CNG.

The experts gave the charge, yesterday, during a webinar organised by CGAS Energy Limited to train and educate the public, as well as practitioners, on safety in the oil and gas industry.

Deputy Director, Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (Pi-CNG) in Nigeria, Tosin Coker, said the committee had started working with critical regulators to develop uniformed and broad-based safety regulatory frameworks to guide conversion, use, storage and manufacturing of CNG vehicles.

He said it is better to run vehicles on gas, which he said, is cleaner, less explosive, safer, 18 times less expensive than petrol and eight times less expensive than diesel, adding that since it is compressed gas and operative at high pressure, it is important to ensure safety practices around conversion, manufacturing, storage and use are enforced.

Also, the Head of Systems Integration & Infrastructure, CGAS Energy, Joshua Odeleye, said with increased use of CNG in Nigeria, raising public awareness, empowering industry practitioners, and engaging key stakeholders, in collaboration with the presidential committee, becomes crucial.

According to him, the initiative comes in response to the recent increase in gas explosions in the country, particularly related to CNG. Odeleye, therefore, urged stakeholders not to relent in ensuring public education on safety essentials in the use of CNG, and providing valuable insights and training.

President, Assogas-Metano, Flavio Merigo, emphasised the need to ensure that only safe consumer products are sold in the market, adherence to ISO standards and personnel training, to halt the lack of competence in the CNG market.

In his contribution, the Project Technical Partner, Clinton McGuinness, emphasised that it is important to install CNG equipment that complies with recognised global standards, especially gas cylinders.

The Coordinator, Regulations, Compliance and Facilitation, (PCNGI), ZayyanTambari, argued that while CNG vehicles are not new in Nigeria, it is the level of adoption for transportation that has been slow over the years.

He, however, said that the government had put in place an initiative to rally all stakeholders in private and public sectors to enable the needed push for its rapid adoption.

To the Managing Director of Ecomotive Solutions, Roberto Roasio, deploying high-quality products and not the cheap ones, is crucial to safety measures in the CNG sector, adding that cylinders must be mounted in such a way that there are no linkages.