Cooking gas price may soar due to domestic supply gap

The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, may increase further in the country as a result of the domestic supply gap.

The price of cooking gas has risen to between N1,000 and N1,200 per kilogramme across the country, and marketers fear that it may go higher due to scarcity, which they attribute to supply interruption.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) had announced on January 13, 2022, that it would supply all of its LPG production to the Nigerian markets for domestic consumption.

The NLNG said that this was to ensure the availability of LPG in Nigeria, diversify the uses of LPG, and support the Federal Government’s decade-long gas initiative.

However, the president of the Nigerian Association of Liquified Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALGAM), Oladapo Olatunbosun, has called on the federal government to intervene proactively to check the price increase.

He said that the scarcity of gas in some parts of Lagos was due to supply disruption, as the tanker that was supposed to offload in the state had not done so.

He said, ‘We have information that Nigerians are facing difficulties in getting the product.’

He warned that, if the Federal Government does not act, the price of 12.5kg of cooking gas might soon hit N18,000, as the volume marketers used to buy for N8 million is now being sold for N14.5 million.

Olatunbosun said, “Go to the North and the Far East and see what people are going through.

In some places, they are buying at N1,300 per kg because the cost of buying at the terminal has gone very high. As of today, terminals are selling for N14.5 million, which used to be between N8 million and N8.5 million.

“The supply has also been erratic. The vessel from NLNG went to Port Harcourt twice, which is why there is a delay in Lagos. The vessel came back to Lagos two days ago. They just offloaded it, and the quantity it brought was not that substantial. We are expecting it back in about a week.

“So, we are using this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government of Nigeria, especially the new Minister of Gas, to pay attention to LPG. LPG is a product that can serve all Nigerians, both the young and the old—everybody who needs gas.