By Precious Olisa
Nigerian gas retailers have warned that the price of cooking gas may rise by 80 per cent by December 2023 if the federal government does not restrict the activities of the terminal owners.
At the moment, to refill a 5kg gas cylinder, consumers have to pay N4,500 and N10,000 for the 12.5kg cylinder, according to a price survey by Business Post.
But the gas retailers have raised an alarm that in three months’ time, prices may rise to N9,000 for 5kg and N18,000 for 12.5kg.
In an interview with the Punch Newspaper on Sunday, the President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGM), Mr Olatunbosun Oladapo, warned that the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, has “gone astronomically high at terminals as a result of a sudden increment from between N9-N10 million per 20 metric tons to N14 million per 20 metric tons.”
He emphasised that if the federal government does not intervene with terminal owners, prices will continue to rise.
“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 million per metric ton by December. This means that a 12.5kg could go as high as N18,000,” he submitted.
Mr Oladapo accused the terminal owners of using the high exchange rate as an excuse to increase the price of gas, saying they were “hiding under the guise of high foreign exchange to increase the price to further increase the suffering of the masses.”
He also told the newspaper that said there was no justification for the increment because the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited still supplied the market.
“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 price, NNPCL and terminal owners have increased price to N14 million,” he said.
He added that when Nigerians face an increase in gas prices, it is not the fault of retailers but NLNG and terminal owners because they’ve increased their selling prices.
“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,” he added.
