Nigeria is Africa’s highest oil-producing country but Nigerians are among the continent’s lowest consumers of liquified petroleum gas, opting instead to use wood, and kerosene — which is subsidized — according to a report in BusinessDay.

More than 80 percent of Nigerians still depend on kerosene and wood for cooking and Nigeria could save billions of naira if the population embraced liquified petroleum gas, the report said.

Nigerians use 1.8 kilogams of liquified petroleum gas per capita, compared to the West African regional average of 3.5 kilograms, according to Haruna Momoh, managing director of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Co. Momoh spoke on stimulating consumption of liquified petroleum gas in Nigeria at an oil and gas seminar in Lagos.

“There is an urgent need to reverse this trend and join the rest of the world in maximizing the benefits of this abundant resource,’’ he said.

Liquified petroleum gas is basically propane or butane, a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles.

Momoh said money spent on subsidizing kerosene could be put to better use in infrastructure development, education, health and agriculture for the welfare of citizens.

However, other things are stopping Nigerians from embracing liquified petroleum gas, he said, including high cost of cylinders, low public awareness and a lack of investment in the value chain.

Subsidizing kerosene consumption has become harmful to Nigeria’s economy, said Nkechi Obi, executive vice- chairwoman of Techno Oil Ltd.

Obi suggested the government could force Nigerians to use liquified petroleum gas by gradually removing the kerosene subsidy over five years and switching to support for liquified petroleum gas. Savings could be spent on buying gas cylinders to promote LPG use.

The government should invite entrepreneurs to invest in LPG infrastructure development the way it did for fuel depot infrastructure development, she said.

“The world has moved on and Nigeria also has to move,” she said.

Compared to Nigeria, Ghana’s per capita consumption rate of liquified petroleum gas is 3 kilograms, Cameroon’s is 1.9 kilograms, South Africa’s is 5.5 kilograms and Morocco’s is 44 kilograms.

Obi also said Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources should come up with guidelines to incorporate gas refilling plants at gas stations nationwide.

“Unavailability of refill centers in neighborhoods is still a big challenge in the drive to get more Nigerian to switch to LPG,” she said. “Consumers do not need to go more than a kilometer to access an LPG refill plant if the switch to LPG would be sustainable.”

Cooking with firewood and kerosene is harmful and the smoke, more dangerous than cigarette smoke, according to the report.

Obi urged the government to partner with the private sector to popularize the use of LPG.