The Federal Government’s boycott on the trade of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, has driven to a crash in the cost of the product from almost N1,500 per kilogram to around N900/kg, LPG dealers stated on Wednesday.
Cooking gas dealers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers disclosed this amid a courtesy visit on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, in Abuja.
On February 22, 2024, reports has it that the Federal Government prohibited the exportation of LPG in a bid to extend its volume locally to warrant a crash in cost.
In response to a significant rise in the price of cooking gas, Nigerian LPG producers and their industry partners were reportedly instructed to stop exporting the product
Speaking at the meeting with the gas serve on Wednesday in Abuja, the National President, of NALPGAM, Oladapo Olatunbosun, commended Ekpo for the courage in ordering the taming of all LPG created inside the nation, stressing that the approach came about within the reduction and stabilization of the product’s cost in the domestic market.
Olatunbosun, in a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Louis Ibah, reviewed that amid a stakeholders consultative forum in Abuja in February this year, the association had drawn the minister’s consideration to the reality that some international oil companies working in Nigeria had been exporting huge volumes of gas.
He pointed out that in the event that these volumes were to be accessible for the domestic market, there would be no need to import LPG at exorbitant rates as the product would be accessible and there would be cost stability in the local market.
The NALPGAM president expressed gratitude toward the Federal Government for paying attention to their plea, as the government’s intercession reduced the cost of LPG that was sold for N20m per 20 metric tons to N15m. At the retail conclusion, there is a corresponding decrease from N1,400 – N1,500 per kilogram to between N900 – N1,000 per kilogram, according to the gas marketer, as contained in the statement.
Olatunbosun was cited saying, “We appreciate the reality that at the conference with us you (Ekpo) promised that the issue of trading LPG within the face of insufficient supply and soar in costs will be addressed, and indeed you’ve got taken steps to walk the conversation.
“Today we say thank you since the ban on LPG export has made a lot of changes within the market and consumers can affirm to this.
In his reaction, Ekpo criticized the circumstance where Nigeria, a major gas maker, was positioned among nations with the most reduced consumers of the item.
He assured his visitors of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to developing the penetration of gas over the nation.
He commended the marketers for their participation in bringing down costs to reflect current substances following the boycott on the export of LPG.
“We would not have gone that distant without your cooperation and bolster. We are working towards guaranteeing that our endless gas assets is accessible locally at the proper cost for the open in line with President Bola Tinubu’s goal for the sector and economy,” Ekpo expressed.
The gas minister stated in February that the government had asked LPG makers to end the trade of the product.
Ekpo had said, “With the issue of gas, you’ve got seen the demonstration of the Federal Government by withdrawing all charges and demands from the importation of gas-related hardware. It may be a huge incentive.
“On the issue of LPG (cooking gas), we are association with the basic sectors to guarantee that there’s no exportation of LPG. All LPG produced within the country will need to be domesticated and when usually done, the volume will increment and, of course, the cost will consequently crash.
“I’m in contact with the regulator, NMDPRA, we have gatherings almost every day with the producers of the gas like Mobil, Chevron and Shell. So there’s that trust that things will turn around.
“And that is also why we are having this engagement to know exactly what the issues are so that we can address them once and for all.”
