Cooking Gas Price Defies FG’s Intervention, Hits N1,500/kg

The price of cooking gas has defied the intervention of the Federal Government for reduction as it has continued to rise.

Investigations by New Telegraph yesterday revealed that in some parts of the country including Lagos State, 1kg of gas refill costs N1,500; N9,000 for 6kg and N18,000 for 12 kg.

Sources also said that the prices were higher in some parts of the country, including South-South, South East and some parts of the north. As of September 2, 2024 in Lagos, the costs of refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas was N16,800; 6kg, N8,400 and 1 kg, N1,400 as against N15,600 for 12.5 kg cylinder; 6kg for N7,800 and 1kg for N1,300 as of July 28, 2024.

As of July 13, to refill a 12.5 kg cylinder was N14,500; 6kg for N7,200 and 1kg for N1,200 while in June, to refill 12.5kg cylinder was N13,200; 6kg, N6,600 and 1k , N1,100 while in May, the prices were N1,100 for 1kg, and N6,600. A cooking gas vendor, who preferred not to be named, attributed the rising cost of cooking gas to the failing value of the naira to the dollar.

Recall that the Federal Government through the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, in a statement by his media aide, Louis Ibah, had expressed deep concern over the continuous increase in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, in the country and issued fresh directives to reduce its cost.

The statement on October 22, 2024 recalled that in a bold move to tackle the soaring price of cooking gas, the minister had established a high-level committee in November 2023, led by the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, and comprising key stakeholders in the LPG value chain.

The statement noted that despite the effort to address the issue, prices have continued to rise. Ekpo had also convened a meeting with stakeholders to address the skyrocketing price and its attendant hardship on Nigerians. To combat the soaring price, the Gas Minister issued the following directives:

That as a short term solution, with effect from November 1, 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and LPG producers are to stop exporting LPG produced in-country, or import equivalent volumes of LPG exported at cost reflective prices.

On the pricing framework, Ekpo stated that NMDPRA will engage stakeholders to create a domestic LPG pricing framework within 90 days, indexing price to cost of in-country production, rather than the current practice of indexing against external markets, such as the Americas and Far East Asia, whereas the commodity is produced in-country and the Nigerian people are required to pay much higher price for an essential commodity the country is naturally endowed with.

On the long term solution, the minister directed that within 12 months, facilities will be developed to blend, store, and deliver LPG, ending exports until the market achieves sufficiency and price stability.

He said his directives were a step towards addressing the inherent challenges and ensuring Nigerians have access to affordable cooking gas. Ekpo said: “The new measures aim to improve availability and ensure affordability to protect Nigerians from the economic hardship caused by LPG price hike.”