Tougher Times Ahead For Nigerians As Gas Retailers Hint On Further Price Surge

Nigerians have been warned ahead of tougher times, as prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, are likely to surge further before the end of the year.

According to gas retailers, the activities of the terminal owners recently have caused a huge surge in the price of cooking gas. They said as of last week, 1kg was N800 at the terminal; now it is ₦1,200 and could reach ₦1,500 by December if care is not taken.

They said 12.5kg of cooking gas, which goes for N10,000, might sell for as high as N18,000 by December if the Federal Government does not intervene.

Speaking with The Punch, the President, of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Olatunbosun Oladapo, said prices of cooking gas “gone astronomically high at terminals as a result of a sudden increment from between N9-N10 million per 20 metric tons to N14million per 20 metric tons.”

Naija News’ findings reveal that 3kg of gas that was before selling for N2000 now sells for ₦2,700, while 6kg that went for ₦4,000 before now sells for ₦5,700 in some parts of Lagos State.

In some parts of Ilorin, Kwara State capital, a kg of gas went for about N850 on Sunday, while some gas retailer shops were locked up.

Giving further details of the price surge, Oladapo explained that there was no justification for the increment, as the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited still supplied the market.

He said, “There is a ridiculous hike in gas prices going on right now, and I am afraid that if the Federal Government does not step in to checkmate the activities of these terminal owners, price could reach as high as N18m per metric tons by December. This means that a 12.5kg could go as high as N18,000.”

Oladapo further accused terminal owners of “hiding under the guise of high foreign exchange to increase price to further increase the suffering of the masses.

“NNPCL currently takes 59 per cent of the gas produced by NLNG, although NLNG has also increased its price from N6 million to N8 million. Now, because NLNG has increased its price, NNPCL and terminal owners have increased price to N14 million.

“The increase in price that would take effect is not the fault of retailers. It is the fault of NLNG and terminal owners. Even NNPCL is hiding under the guise that they are now privatised to increase prices. As of last week, 1kg was N800 at the terminal; now it is ₦1,200 and could reach ₦1,500 by December if care is not taken.

 “Now, the ordinary man would not be able to buy gas. How many minimum wage earners can afford gas now? Everyone is turning to firewood and charcoal. The surprising thing was that they visited President Tinubu last week, and promised to work together with his administration to make life better. Now they have come back and started doing something else. Where are all the palliatives and buses they promised to donate? We have not seen anything.”

However, spokespersons for NavGas, Friday Agwu, and Nipco Plc’s Askay Kumar, blamed the hike on forex and the international market.

Friday blamed the price on forex and the rise in the price of crude oil at the international market.

Kumar, on the other hand, denied that gas was selling for N1200 at the terminal, “No one is selling at ₦1,200/kg. I have not heard such a high price yet,” the Nipco official said but declined to give the landing cost of the product.

“Flat price increase and forex challenges, and LPG responding to a crude price increase at the international market,” he submitted.