The Nigerian Federal Government has begun efforts to address the challenges related to the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly used as cooking gas, following significant price increases.
Louis Ibah, the spokesperson for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, reported that the minister intervened after the price of LPG per kg rose from around N700 to over N1,100 in some areas
A recent meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, convened by the minister, saw participation from senior officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
The main issues contributing to the LPG price rise were identified as difficulties in sourcing foreign exchange for imports and insufficient domestic supply by producers.
Minister Ekpo relayed President Bola Tinubu’s concerns about the sharp rise in cooking gas prices and its impact on citizens.
He emphasized that Nigeria’s substantial gas reserves should be more focused on the domestic market, criticizing multinational firms for prioritizing gas exports.
He said, “With the exponential increase in the price of LPG, there is the need for the Federal Government to intervene and I am representing this at this moment.
“We acknowledge that some producers are exporting while we are faced with the challenges of importation.
“Public interest is the overriding interest all over the world for the government, and the demand for LPG will increase as we approach December…you have a public service obligation to collaborate with the government to ensure the security of gas supply, we need to therefore bend backwards and find solutions, to ensure that we have sufficient supply and stability in-country and that Nigerians have gas.”
The minister thereafter constituted a committee with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.
