LPG refill station
Cooking gas may hit N10, 000 per/12.5kg before December, this year – Marketers warn
Marketers of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, have warned that price of the 12.5kg of cooking gas might reach to N10, 000 before December, this year, if the current crisis in the sector is not addressed.
A 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas currently sells for between N7, 500 and N8, 000 in parts of the country.
Executive Secretary of the National Association of LPG Marketers (NALPGAM), Mr Bassey Essien, revealed this during the weekly e-discourse organised by Platforms Africa.
According to Essien, to avoid this happening, Federal Government needs to review the recently introduced import charges and Value Added Tax imposed on importation or else, the price of cooking gas will reach N10, 000 for a 12.5kg cylinder.
The marketers also expressed concerns over the supply shortfall rocking the sector which has led to recent increases in the price of the commodity.
“The price has risen to N7, 500 and N8, 000. The skyrocketing price of gas is our fear and what we are trying to avoid. Early in the year a 20-metric ton of gas was selling for below N5m but today, the same tonnage sells for N10.2m.
“As long as there is that supply shortage, the available quantity and the dynamics of supply-demand will keep pushing the price higher,” Essien said.
Continuing, Essien said his members were concerned that more Nigerians were being forced to return to coal, sawdust, kerosene, and other dirty fuel.
The NALPGAM Secretary said despite the current challenges, the association was discussing with the government, stakeholders, producers and importers to see how the situation could be addressed in addition to trying to persuade marketers not to take advantage of the crisis to inflict more pains on citizens by increasing the cost of gas in their locations.
NALPGAM secretary also expressed worry over the gradual rise in the cost of cylinders over the years, maintaining that all the raw materials used by the two-cylinder manufacturing plants in the country were imported.
He said despite Nigeria’s over 180 million population, the country barely had up to 10 million cylinders in circulation amid substandard cylinders in circulation.
