Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas is now beyond the reach of average Nigerians as many have turned to charcoal or firewood.
A kilogramme of cooking gas is now N625 or more, depending on the location, forcing many households and eateries, especially in urban centres to seek alternative means of cooking.
Firewood and charcoal mongers are now smiling to the banks with the attendant rise in deforestation.
Experts have warned relevant stakeholders on the consequences of the shortage on the health of residents and the environment at a time global warming is taking a toll on different parts of the world.
Despite a proven estimate of 206.53 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas deposits in Nigeria as of June 2021, the price of cooking gas has surged higher beyond the reach of Nigerians, with five increases recorded in three months, Daily Trust reports.
Our reporters in a survey on Tuesday observed that the prices of various kilogrammes of LPG have surged more than 50 per cent, with a 12.5kg content selling for N7, 800 or more, rising from N6, 500 in less than a month.
Some of the gas users who spoke to our reporters during the market survey in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, among others, said the situation had forced scores of poor Nigerians to resort to using charcoal-fuelled stoves to cook.
Records of gas price tags indicated that the marketers began to hike the product price from April this year, rising from around N3, 600/12.5kg cylinder to N4, 200. By May, gas filling plants sold 12.5kg for N4, 700 while it reached N5, 000 in June and N5, 700 in early July.
It was learnt that those buying in lower volumes like 3kg, 5kg, 8kg and 10kg, paid over 50 per cent more than they did in March.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) recently reported that the volume of LPG supplied in August fell by 20.5% to 85,264.803 metric tons (MT) compared to 107,224.584MT supplied in July and 102,787.234MT in June.
This sharp decline, according to dealers, might lead to further upward pressure on the retail prices of the product.
The Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Abdulkadir Saidu, also in a recent statement said of the 85,264MT volume, 38,040.457MT was sourced locally by Ever Oil, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 Plc., Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas Ltd, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd. in August.
However, the larger part of 47,224.346MT was imported by NIPCO, Matrix, Algasco, Techno Oil, Prudent, A. A Rano, and Stockgap. The imports were more from the USA; Algeria and Equatorial Guinea in Africa.
Gas price increasing since April – NBS report
Confirming the rise in the gas price is the recent report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which said that the average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 0.56 per cent from N2,057.71 in March 2021 to N2,069.21 in April 2021.
As of Tuesday, a 5kg cylinder volume of cooking gas was sold for N3, 250 in Abuja.
According to the NBS latest report, the average price of a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas in August rose by 3.44% from N2,141.59 in July to N2,215.33. The product sold higher in Akwa Ibom at N3, 025.45; Benue at N2, 825.00 and Jigawa at N2, 521.43. The prices were lowest in Abuja at N1, 806.66, Ondo at N1, 840.81 and Lagos at N1, 847.70.
The average price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder also saw an increase of 2.09% at N4,514.82 in August from N4,422.32 in July 2021 and was more expensive in Abuja (N5,837), Kogi (N5,237) and Ogun (N5,170) but the cheapest in Niger (N4,021), Kebbi (N4,042) and Jigawa (N4,079).
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