Brenda Ataga, Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources on Downstream Infrastructure, says government is addressing issues and controversies surrounding non-taxation of imported gas.
Ataga told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday that government was also looking into how the gas sector could be structured to become more competitive.
According to her, it is an anomaly that while domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas is being taxed, tax on imported gas is waived.
She said: “LPG has zero import duties but there is VAT on LPG and we are in discussions with the Ministry of Finance to balance that anomaly where imported gas has no VAT while domestic LPG has VAT.
“We are discussing that so that LPG can be a more competitive field and we are addressing the issue of pricing as well.’’
She said a target had been set by the ministry to produce five million tonnes of gas in 10 years as against the 700,000 currently being produced annually.
Ataga, who said LPG could be alternative for energy security, added that it could also be an essential alternative to petrol, kerosene, diesel, auto-gas, transportation, cooking and power generation.
She said: “Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas is a major producer of LPG in the World. Nigeria stands at second largest producer behind Algeria.
“With volumes like that I don’t know why LPG is not available to the locals, we will be looking at the domestic supply obligations that frame how much LPG is being brought into the country.’’
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