The Nigerian Government has begun the process of resolving challenges bordering on the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in the country’s domestic market better known as cooking gas.
Spokesman for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, Louis Ibah said the minister waded into the issue following the price hike of LPG per kg from about N700 to above N1,100 in some parts of the country.
He said the meeting, held at the NNPC Towers Abuja at the instance of the minister, recently had in attendance top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited led by Sansay Narasimi; Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
Some of the key challenges identified as responsible for LPG price increase are FX sourcing for imports and insufficient supply to the domestic market by producers.
Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on the majority of citizens.
In his words:
“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 has now constituted a committee with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.
