Cooking Gas: Retailers raise alarm of impending price hike by December
Cooking Gas: Retailers raise alarm of impending price hike by December
By Jennifer S Kuwanta
Gas merchants have issued a warning that if the Federal Government does not impose restrictions on the terminal owners’ operations, the price of 12.5kg of cooking gas may rise to N18,000 by December of this year.
In a recent interview, Olatunbosun Oladapo, president of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, stated that the price of cooking gas, also known as liquefied petroleum gas, has “gone astronomically high at terminals as a result of a sudden increment from between N9-N10m per 20 metric tonnes to N14m per 20 metric tonnes.
“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, the price could reach as high as N18m per metric ton by December. This means that a 12.5kg could go as high as N18,000.”
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According to him, terminal owners were “hiding under the guise of high foreign exchange to increase the price to further increase the suffering of the masses.” He insisted that the terminal owners have no justification for increasing prices as the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited still supplied the market.
“NNPCL currently takes 59 percent of the gas produced by NLNG, although NLNG has also increased its price from N6m to N8m. Now, because NLNG has increased its price, NNPCL, and terminal owners have increased the price to N14m. The increase in price that would take effect is not the fault of retailers. It is the fault of NLNG and terminal owners.
“Even NNPCL is hiding under the guise that they are now privatized to increase prices. As of last week, 1kg was N800 at the terminal, now it is N1,200 and could reach N1,500 by December if care is not taken.
“Now, the ordinary man would not be able to buy gas. How many minimum wage earners can afford gas now? Everyone is turning to firewood and charcoal. The surprising thing was that they visited President Tinubu last week, and promised to work together with his administration to make life better.
“Now they have come back and started doing something else. Where are all the palliatives and buses they promised to donate? We have not seen anything.” he said.
