Featured, Oil & Gas
By Anthony Isibor
THE Falcon Corporation is set to significantly reduce the price of cooking gas in the South-East of the country through the construction of a 15,000-metric-tonne Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage and distribution facility in Port Harcourt, a move designed to eliminate costly supply bottlenecks that have long inflated prices in the region.
Professor Joe Ezigbo, founder and former managing director of the company, revealed this during an exclusive interview with Realnews in Lagos, explaining that the infrastructure project is aimed at correcting the structural imbalance in the cooking gas supply chain.
According to him, the South-East has historically paid higher prices for LPG not because the product is scarce in Nigeria but because of the way the distribution system evolved over the years.
“For a long time, the only significant LPG storage capacity in the country was located in Lagos,” Ezigbo said.
As a result, vessels bringing cooking gas into Nigeria were forced to discharge most of their cargo in Lagos before the remaining volumes could be redistributed to other parts of the country.
Ezigbo explained that LPG vessels arriving from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas plant typically carry about 30,000 metric tonnes of gas.
However, because Lagos has roughly 19,000 metric tonnes of storage capacity, ships are compelled to offload the bulk of their cargo there before carrying the remaining 11,000 in smaller vessels back to the East.
“The vessel comes with 30,000 metric tonnes. You drop about 19,000 metric tonnes in Lagos because that is where the storage exists,” he said.
The balance of the cargo meant for other regions — including the South-East — would then be transported through a complicated process involving smaller vessels, coastal shipping and road tankers.
According to Ezigbo, this multi-stage logistics chain significantly increases the cost of gas before it reaches the consumers.
“You take the gas to Lagos first, then begin to move it again to the East,” he explained. “Every movement adds cost.”
He noted that the current system introduces several hidden expenses into the LPG supply chain, including shipping charges, port fees, storage costs and demurrage when vessels remain at ports longer than expected.
In addition, transporting LPG from Lagos to eastern markets by road exposes the product to risks associated with Nigeria’s road infrastructure.
“When trucks move gas across the country, some do not arrive because of accidents or other challenges,” he said.
The losses and operational costs incurred along the supply chain are ultimately transferred to consumers in the form of higher retail prices.
Ironically, he said, regions located closer to Nigeria’s gas production sources sometimes pay more for cooking gas than areas farther away.
“So you produce it here, but you end up paying the highest price for it,” he said.
To address the imbalance, Falcon Corporation embarked on the construction of a major LPG storage facility in Port Harcourt that will enable vessels to discharge cargo directly in the eastern region.
The project forms part of a 15,000-metric-tonne LPG storage farm, with an initial 10,000-metric-tonne storage capacity already completed.
Once operational, the facility will allow gas cargoes to move directly from the source to the South-East without passing through Lagos.
“The idea is to take the gas straight from the source into Port Harcourt and distribute it from there to the eastern market,” Ezigbo said.
This new arrangement is expected to eliminate the Lagos redistribution stage, significantly reducing transportation and handling costs.
According to Ezigbo, the infrastructure will also improve supply stability and make LPG more accessible to households across the South-East and parts of the South-South.
Despite completing the storage tanks, Falcon Corporation has not yet commenced operations at the facility due to an unexpected maritime obstruction.
Ezigbo revealed that a vessel wreck currently blocking the jetty leading to the terminal has prevented ships from accessing the facility.
“We have finished constructing the tanks but have not started yet because a vessel fell in front of our jetty,” he said.
Efforts are ongoing to remove the wreckage and clear the channel so that LPG carriers can begin delivering cargo directly to the terminal.
Beyond reducing prices, Ezigbo said the project aligns with Nigeria’s broader push to expand domestic gas utilisation and encourage the adoption of cleaner cooking fuels.
He noted that improving LPG distribution infrastructure is critical to reducing dependence on firewood and kerosene, which are still widely used by many households.
By bringing storage capacity closer to consumers, he said the facility will help deepen the domestic gas market and promote wider access to LPG.
However, Ezigbo cautioned that while improved logistics can reduce prices, the broader affordability of cooking gas ultimately depends on the economic wellbeing of Nigerians.
“The real problem is not only the price of gas,” he said. “The real problem is the income of Nigerians.”
Nevertheless, he expressed optimism that investments in gas infrastructure will gradually transform Nigeria’s LPG market, improve supply chains and make cooking gas more affordable for millions of households across the country.
A.I
March 14, 2026
Tags: Falcon Corporation Nigeria Gas infrastructure Professor Joe Ezigbo RealnewsMagazine
