The Federal Government on Thursday said it would crash the price of petrol by providing Compressed Natural Gas as an alternative source of fuel for vehicles nationwide.
The CNG is a fuel that can be used in the place of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol. It can also be used in the place of diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
The minister of state for petroleum resources, Timbre Sylva, Speaking on what the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources would work on this year during a press conference in Abuja, stated that the Federal Government was working for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill before May.
He further stated that moves by the Federal Government to recover $62bn from international oil companies were seemingly impossible, as no such money was sitting anywhere to be harvested by the country.
Sylva declared that the Nigerian oil and gas sector was retrogressing, particularly when compared to the oil sector of other nations and the use of petrol had caused a serious drain on the finances of the Federal Government as a result of the continued subsidy on the commodity.
The minister said findings by the government showed that the CNG cost less than the subsidized PMS and that once the CNG was fully deployed, the price of fuel would crash stating that the subsidized rate of the PMS per liter is N145 but the CNG cost between N95 to N97 per liter.
He said Nigeria had abundant gas and that deploying the CNG would not be tough for the country.
The minister further stated that recovering $62bn from international oil companies by the government based on an October 17 judgment of the Supreme Court is vain, Stating that it is practically impossible to recoup such funds from the IOCs.