FG to Intervene As Cooking Gas Price Hits ₦1,120 Per Kg
The federal government has intervened over the increasing price of Cooking Gas, with the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, urging International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other producers to fulfil their domestic obligations before export
The federal government’s intervention follows the high cost of the commodity, which has risen to N1120 in some parts of the country.
This was revealed in a statement by Louis Ibah, spokesman for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo.
The minister, the statement said, has constituted a committee with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within one week.
According to the statement, a 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.
Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on the majority of citizens.
He decried the situation where Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, but some of the multinational firms are more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes to the domestic market, saying it was unacceptable and should be discouraged.
“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,” Ekpo stated.