Cooking gas price hits N1000/kg, as marketers, depot owners bicker
Price of cooking gas also known as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has reached a staggering N1000 per kilogram as retailers of the product accuse terminal owners of hiking charges under the guise of high foreign exchange rate in the country.
In Lagos, the price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of the commodity has also reached N12, 500 as a result, from the previous N10, 000 it was sold in the market.
This is just as the president of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Mr. Olatunbosun Oladapo, warned that the price of 12.5kg cooking gas could hit as high as N18,000 by December if the Federal Government does not call terminal owners to order.
Mr Oladapo who informed newsmen, Monday, that the government was yet to wade into the impasse between his members and the terminal owners over pricing of the commodity, said its dispute with the latter is yet to receive the attention of the Federal Government’s agency responsible, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) by way of its intervention into the matter.
According to him, the terminal owners were ‘hiding under the guise of high foreign exchange to increase price, and further increase the suffering of the masses,’ adding further that gas retailers still buy 20 metric tons of the commodity at the price of N14 million at the depot operated by the terminal owners.
“We still buy a 20 MT truck at N14m at the depots. And the price of diesel has increased that it now costs N1.7m to take gas from Lagos to the North due to the high cost of diesel. If we sell here at N1,000 per 1kg, just imagine how much it would cost in the Middle East and North.
“What we pray for is for prices to come down so that the ordinary masses can benefit from the decade of gas policy of the Federal Government that seeks to make gas accessible and affordable for the common man.
“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, price could reach as high as N18m for a 20 metric tons truck by December. This means that a 12.5kg could go as high as N18,000,” Oladapo said.
