Following the outrageous increase in the price of cooking gas over the past few months and the subsequent cry by citizens to the federal government to intervene, the Board of Directors of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has finally heeded to the people’s request to do something about the stifling increment in the price of cooking gas and has approved the supply of 100 per cent of the company’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) production (Propane & Butane) to the Nigerian market.
By this, the NLNG in a statement it released recently, said it hopes to prioritize the domestic market for cooking gas, otherwise known as Butane production, by 100%. Consequently, this move by the NLNG to inject a 100% supply into the local market, the company hopes will drastically push down the price of the product.
Since March 2021, the price of cooking gas has been on a steady rise thus causing untold hardship to the masses who can barely afford to make ends meet.
Some have, however, attributed the rise in price of the product to high foreign exchange cost, low supply and other tax related matters.
The Managing Director/CEO of NLNG, Dr Philip Mshelbila, said the announcement marked the Company’s strong commitment to the continued growth of the domestic LPG market and its passion to increase utilisation of one of the most versatile energy sources in the world.
He said, “Committing 100% of our LPG supply is a major milestone in our journey of domestic gas supply. We supplied our first Butane (LPG) cargo into the domestic market in 2007, which helped to develop over the years the LPG industry in Nigeria from less than 50,000 tons to over one million tons market size annually by the end of 2020.”
He also said, in 2021, we increased our LPG supply commitment from 350,000MT or 28m of 12.5kg cylinders to actual delivery of 400,000MT or 32m of 12.5kg cylinders, thereby directing most of our production into the domestic market.
“But this was not enough for NLNG, hence this commitment to do all that we possibly can and supply 100% of our LPG production to the domestic market,” Mshelbila added.
NLNG is currently the highest single supplier of LPG into the domestic market, with an estimated 400,000 metric ton (MT) supplied in 2021.
Some consumers have expressed concern that with the hike in the current prices of foodstuffs, a similar increase in the price of cooking gas was a death sentence, while calling on government to treat the matter with the urgency it demands and intensify efforts to address the situation, before things got out of hand.
As at October 2020,the price of 12.5kg of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas rose from N3,800 to N7,500 in October 2021, representing a 97.37 percentage increase in just 12 months. By late November of 2021, the price went up to N8,500, with palpable fear that it might hit N10,000 by December of the same year if urgent steps are not taken to stem the dangerous tide.
Experts have consistently blamed the price hike of LPG on dearth of infrastructure, global shortfall in gas supply, inadequate local production, shortage of FOREX, devaluation of naira and logistic hitches.
Already, the current price hike has triggered the use of charcoal and kerosene stoves as alternatives by some residents in Lagos and environs with all its attendant health implications.
With the promise by government to increase supply in order to push down price, the people can now heave a sigh of relief.