The Federal Government has taken steps to address issues related to the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, in the domestic market.
According to a statement by Louis Ibah, the spokesperson for the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, the minister intervened in response to the surge in LPG prices per kilogram, rising from approximately N700 to over N1,100 in certain regions of the country.
The minister convened a meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, which saw the participation of key industry figures, including top officials from Chevron Nigeria Limited, led by Sansay Narasimi; the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed; and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
According to report, the primary challenges identified contributing to the escalation in LPG prices involve foreign exchange procurement for imports and inadequate supply to the domestic market by producers.
Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on the majority of citizens.
The minister who noted that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, said the situation where some of the multinational firms were more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes to the domestic market was unacceptable and should be discouraged.
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.
