Cooking gas price rises 22.03% — NBS

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Cooking gas price rises 22.03% — NBS

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that the average price of 5kg of cooking gas rose year-on-year (YoY) by 22.03 per cent to N4, 610.48 in February 2023 from N3,778.30 in the corresponding period of 2022. This comes as the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased YoY by 43.62 percent to N264.29 in March 2023 from N185.30 in March 2022.

In its Cooking Gas Price Watch for March 2022, the NBS also stated that on a month-on-month, MoM basis, the price of 5kg of cooking gas rose by 0.22 per cent to N4,610.48 in March 2023 from N4,600.57 in February 2023.

The report showed that Kwara State recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N4,962.87, followed by Abuja with N4,940.00 and Adamawa with N4,915.00.

On the other hand, Rivers recorded the lowest price with N4,204.45, followed by Abia and Anambra with N4,220.15 and N4,232.75 respectively.

Meanwhile, operators have attributed the rise in the price of cooking gas to fluctuations in the exchange rate, multiple taxes, and scarcity of foreign exchange.

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), Mr. Bassey Essein, said: “The source of LPG for some time now has been predominantly from Nigeria LNG and has never met the demands. This is because of the supply- demand gap and market dynamics. All these work in concert to affect the price. Hence, the price goes up. Similarly, NALPGAM President, Mr Oladapo Olatunbosun, called on the government to provide more incentives to encourage exploration, adding that foreign and local investors could be encouraged to explore and invest in gas business.

He said: “The nation has the required storage facilities, but needs to do more on exploration. The price is coming down gradually. The only solution to bring prices down significantly is to improve on supply.

“As a country, we should plan for an increase in the local supply through exploration. We need more big plants like Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to boost supply, and then the price would come down.”