Gas retailers have warned that the price of 12.5 kg of cooking gas may hit N18,000 by December if the activities of terminal owners are not restricted by the Federal Government.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Olatunbosun Oladapo, said that the price of liquefied petroleum gas, also known as cooking gas, has “gone astronomically high at terminals as a result of a sudden increment from between N9 and N10 per 20 metric tons to N14 per 20 metric tons.
“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, the price could reach as high as N18 per metric ton by December. This means that 12.5 kg cooking gas could go as high as N18,000!
According to him, terminal owners were “hiding under the guise of high foreign exchange to increase prices to further increase the suffering of the masses.”
Olatunbosun said there was no justification for the increment as the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited still supplied the market.
He said, “NNPCL currently takes 59 percent 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 their 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 privatizing to increase prices. As of last week, 1kg was N800 at the terminal; now it is N1,200 and could reach N1,500 by December if care is not taken.”
He added, “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.”
The Chronicle NG reported an intended hike in cooking gas prices in August. Prices have since shot up, with 12.5kg of cooking gas going as high as N10,000.
Although gas terminal owners did not have a visible association, spokespersons for NavGas, Friday Agwu, and Nipco Plc’s Askay Kumar blamed the hike on forex and the international market.
“No one is selling at N1,200/kg. I have not heard such a high price yet,” Kumar said. He, however, declined to respond when asked how much the landing cost.
Friday blamed the price on forex and a rise in the price of crude oil on the international market.
“Flat price increase and forex challenges, and LPG responding to crude price increase at the international market,” he said.
