The Federal Government has started a procedure to address issues pertaining to the availability and cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (also known as cooking gas) in the nation’s domestic market.
According to a statement from Louis Ibah, the minister’s spokesman, Ekperikpe Ekpo, the minister became involved in the matter when the price of LPG per kilogramme increased in certain regions of the nation, from roughly N700 to more than N1,100.
He said the meeting, at the instance of the minister, which was held at the NNPC Towers Abuja recently had in attendance top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited led by Sansay Narasimi; Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
The key challenges identified as responsible for LPG price increase include FX sourcing for imports and insufficient supply to the domestic market by producers.
The minister who noted that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, said the situation where some of the multinational firms were more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes to the domestic market was unacceptable and should be discouraged.
He said, “With the exponential increase in the price of LPG, there is the need for the Federal Government to intervene and I am representing this at this moment.
“We acknowledge that some producers are exporting while we are faced with the challenges of importation.
“Public interest is the overriding interest all over the world for the government, and the demand for LPG will increase as we approach December…you have a public service obligation to collaborate with the government to ensure the security of gas supply, we need to therefore bend backwards and find solutions, to ensure that we have sufficient supply and stability in-country and that Nigerians have gas.”