Cooking gas prices across Nigeria have dropped significantly over the past two months, driven by the Federal Government’s issuance of import permits to gas marketers to bridge a widening domestic supply gap.
- +Cooking gas prices ease as import permits yield fruit
A kilogram of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, is now retailing for around N1,400 in major cities like Lagos and Enugu and several other cities.
A kilogram of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, is now retailing for around N1,400 in major cities like Lagos and Enugu and several other cities. This marks a 39 percent decline from the N2,000 to N2,300 price highs recorded in June, implying a move that has yielded fruit. Industry insiders familiar with the development attribute the relief directly to a massive influx of imported LPG, which has finally eased the market.
“The rate at which import permits were approved recently was massive. That is why prices are crashing,” one industry source familiar with the approvals told BusinessDay.
Another source said global supply disruptions triggered by the U.S.-Iran conflict initially tightened the domestic market, but difficulties in obtaining import approvals also worsened supply shortages.
“The initial problem was the US-Iran conflict, which disrupted the global LPG market. Then there were financing challenges and difficulties in getting import permits from the government to complement local supply gaps,” the source said.
Efforts by BusinessDay to obtain comments from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) were unsuccessful as of press time.
Official NMDPRA data support the growing role of imports in stabilising the market.
According to the regulator’s June 2026 Fact Sheet: State of the Midstream and Downstream Sector, average daily LPG receipts increased by 24 percent, rising to 5.1 kilotonnes per day (KT/D) in June from 4.1 KT/D in May.
The increase, however, was driven almost entirely by imports.
Domestic LPG supply declined by 10 percent month-on-month to 3.6 KT/D from 4.0 KT/D, while imports surged from just 0.1 KT/D in May to 1.5 KT/D in June—an increase of about 1,400 percent.
The figures indicate that imported volumes more than compensated for weakening domestic production, helping to improve supply availability and moderate wholesale prices.
The fresh approvals align with measures announced by the NMDPRA in June after cooking gas prices reached record levels.
At an emergency stakeholders’ meeting convened by Ekperikpe Ekpo, the minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rabiu Umar, the authority’s Chief Executive Officer, said the regulator would issue and closely monitor import permits to bridge an estimated 165,000-metric-tonne LPG supply gap during the third quarter of 2026.
Umar described imports as the quickest solution to stabilise supply while domestic production expands.
“The projected third-quarter supply gap is 165,000 metric tonnes. NMDPRA will issue import permits and closely monitor issued permits for performance,” he said.
He also disclosed plans to redirect part of Nigeria’s exported LPG volumes into the domestic market. Meanwhile, the ANOH Gas Plant is expected to begin supplying about 50 metric tonnes of LPG daily.
According to Umar, the regulator is also auditing companies lifting LPG from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to improve distribution efficiency and curb market distortions.
Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA’s executive director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retail Infrastructure, attributed the earlier spike in cooking gas prices to inadequate domestic supply, weak import volumes, profiteering and distribution bottlenecks.
He said regulatory interventions had already doubled national LPG supply sufficiency from 11 days to 22 days, supported by the arrival of four import cargoes totalling about 16,000 metric tonnes, while average daily supply rose to more than 5,000 metric tonnes.
The regulator also pledged stricter enforcement against profiteering, accelerated licensing of LPG storage and blending facilities, expansion of distribution infrastructure, and faster implementation of domestic gas processing projects.
