The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, intervened in the ongoing scarcity of liquefied petroleum gas, commonly known as cooking gas, and vowed to take firm action against marketers found hoarding the product or exploiting consumers.
According to The Punch, this development came amid complaints from retailers about the disparity between the price offered by the Dangote refinery and the prices at which off-takers sold the product to the market.
It was recalled that Alhaji Aliko Dangote had earlier threatened to begin direct distribution of cooking gas if distributors failed to cooperate with him to bring down the price.
In an interview on Monday, the Chairman of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Ayobami Olarinoye, explained that the Dangote refinery sold LPG at ₦15.8 million per 20,000 metric tonnes to off-takers and major distributors, who in turn resold the same quantity to retailers at prices ranging between ₦18.4 million and ₦18.5 million.
Officials at the Dangote refinery, in a chat with The Punch correspondent, confirmed that marketers purchased the product from the facility at between ₦715,000 and ₦790,000 per metric tonne, noting that a metric tonne contained 1,000 kilograms.
They further clarified that marketers picked up LPG from the refinery at ₦715 per kilogram.
“We don’t control the retail price. According to PIA and NMDPRA, only the government can fix prices. We can only control what we sell at the refinery. If they sell at N2,000/kg after buying at N715/kg, there’s nothing we can do,” one of the sources said.
The PUNCH reports that the cost of cooking gas has recently increased from approximately N1,000 per kilogram to around N2,000 per kilogram in some areas.
This increase in price happened after a strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, which occurred during a disagreement with the Dangote refinery.
Now, almost two weeks after the strike ended, the price of cooking gas has not gone down, and there is still a shortage of supply.
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