Price of Kerosene Leaps 0.7% to N400/Litre in August

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel

The average price per litre paid by Nigerians for National Household Kerosene increased by 0.7 per cent to N400 in August from N397.34 in July 2021, a report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

The National Household Kerosene Price Watch for August 2021 also showed that the value of the commodity rose 15.4 per cent compared with the N346.53 recorded in August 2020.

According to the NBS, the state with the highest average price of kerosene was Enugu, where the household oil was sold to consumers at N494.05 per litre. This was followed by Ebonyi and Cross River where people bought the product for as high as N489.17 and N487.50 per litre respectively.

On the flip side, residents in the core of the Niger Delta region, Bayelsa State, bought the commodity at the lowest average price per litre – N255.56. This was followed by Katsina and Osun States where kerosene was sold for as low as N322.92 and N325.00 per litre respectively.

Meanwhile, the average price of the common household oil sold per gallon also went up by 1.8 per cent month-on-month from N1,302.56 in July to N1,325.39. It also indicated an 8.8 per cent increase compared with the N1,218.48 per gallon in the same time of last year.

Analyzing the price across the states in the country, it was observed that Plateau and Sokoto recorded the highest average cost of the oil per gallon as consumers paid N1,757.14 and N1,580 respectively.

However, in the southern region of the country, precisely in Rivers and Bayelsa, the product was sold at its lowest within the period at N964.75 and N991.67 per gallon, while residents of Yobe State bought the product at N991.67

Zooming out on the analysis, the average kerosene prices per litre across geopolitical zones in the country recorded the highest in the South-East region at N439.58, while the North-West zone recorded the lowest at N354.41 per litre.

The average value of the oil sold per gallon peaked at the North-central zone at N1,377.64 but was sold at its lowest at the south southern part of the country at N1,235.53 within the period.

Business Post reports that this will be the first time since the beginning of this year that the average price of kerosene will jump to as high as N400 per litre and N1,325.39 per gallon across all states.