More Worries For Nigerian Households, Others As Cooking Gas Price Surges

Nigerians’ expectation of experiencing a crash in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, has been dashed, as the product price continues to surge.

Subsequently, the price of aviation fuel also rose to between N1,300 and N1,500 per litre in the domestic market, from about N1,000 during the period, indicating an increase of 33 per cent.

In an interview with Vanguard, the President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGM, Oladapo Olatunbosun, said the prices of cooking gas would continue to increase as the foreign exchange crisis continues to impact the domestic market.

He said: “It is expected that when the foreign exchange increases, the price of LPG will follow suit because it still priced and determined by the flow of foreign exchange.”

Also speaking, the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the price of cooking gas would automatically crash when critical stakeholders avoid its exportation.

Ekpo assured Nigerians that things would turn around, adding that he is currently in talks with the regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

He said: “Despite the declaration of the decade of gas and the government’s push to make gas a transition fuel, low production and rising prices have continued to push Nigerians away from the use of cooking gas.

“You have seen the demonstration by the federal government by withdrawing all taxes and levies from importation of gas related equipment. It is a big incentive on the issue.

“We are interacting with the critical stakeholders to ensure that there is no exportation of cooking gas. All cooking gas produced within the country will have to be domesticated and when this is done, the volume will increase and of course, the price will automatically crash.

“I am in contact with the regulator, NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority), we have meetings almost on a daily basis, and the producers of the gas like Mobil, Chevron and Shell. So, there is hope that things will turn around.

“It is not going to reflect that way. We are dealing with human beings. The policy has been put in place and the investors want to maximise the profits that they are going to get from it all. At the end of the day we have to come in. That is why you have the regulator and we are interfacing with them to make sure they crash the price.”