Marketers fear scarcity as cooking gas hits N1,500/kg

The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers has raised the alarm over the erratic supply and rising cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise known as cooking gas, warning that the situation could trigger scarcity and worsen hardship for millions of Nigerians.

The association said cooking gas is now selling for over N1,500 per kilogramme, while marketers currently pay between N25.2m and N26.2m for 20 metric tonnes of the product, depending on location. The product is sold at between N1,600 and N2,000 by many other dealers.

Checks by our correspondent on Sunday confirmed that the essential commodity jumped from less than N1,000/kg recently to around N1,500 or more, depending on the location.

In a statement jointly signed by the National President of NALPGAM, Edu Inyang, and the Executive Secretary, Mr Bassey Essien, the association described the development as “sad and rather very pathetic”.

“The citizens of Nigeria have woken up to buy cooking gas, which should be a social item, at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500 per kg, while the marketers are made to pay as much as N25,200,000 or, depending on the location, N26,200,000 for 20 metric tonnes of cooking gas.

“We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, the citizens may rise against the owners of gas filling stations,” the marketers expressed fears.

They said the development had brought untold hardship to millions of Nigerian households, small businesses, food vendors, and low-income families who rely on LPG for daily cooking and livelihood.

According to the association, the situation is “seriously eroding the substantial progress made by the government” on the usage of clean energy in the country. The group maintained that its members across the country were facing difficulties sourcing LPG due to “persistent supply shortages, high depot prices, logistics bottlenecks and uncontrollable rising operational costs”.

“We observe that where product is available, it is sold at rates far beyond the reach of average Nigerians,” the association stated.

NALPGAM warned that the crisis was undermining years of progress achieved through Federal Government policies and investments aimed at deepening LPG penetration and promoting clean cooking energy.

“While millions of Nigerians have embraced cooking gas as a result of the national clean energy transition agenda, it is sad to state that those gains are at risk as households are struggling to refill cylinders, small businesses are folding under rising energy costs, while many families are reverting to firewood and charcoal despite the serious implications for public health, environmental degradation, and deforestation,” it said.

The association further warned that failure to urgently address the crisis could lead to “accelerated food inflation, the collapse of small-scale LPG retail businesses, job losses, reduced investor confidence, and a significant setback to Nigeria’s clean energy and climate commitments”.

NALPGAM called on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, domestic producers, terminal operators, international suppliers, and other stakeholders to take urgent and coordinated steps to stabilise the market before it degenerates further.

The association recommended immediate measures to improve the availability and accessibility of LPG nationwide. It also called for increased domestic LPG allocation to the Nigerian market, transparent distribution of available supply, reduction of bottlenecks in importation and distribution, and interventions to stabilise retail prices.

It requested investment in storage and distribution infrastructure as well as policies that support affordability and sustainability in the sector. “We cannot stand by and watch millions of Nigerian families suffer in silence while access to clean cooking energy becomes increasingly difficult and unaffordable.

“For years, the government and industry operators have worked to move Nigerians away from unsafe fuels. Those gains are now under serious threat. “Households cannot refill cylinders, small businesses are struggling to survive, and vulnerable households are returning to firewood and charcoal with dire health and environmental consequences.

“We therefore make a passionate and patriotic appeal to the Federal Government for urgent intervention to stabilise supply and pricing. NALPGAM is ready to collaborate to have lasting solutions, but decisive action is needed now,” the statement said.