The Federal Government said it’s actively engaged in processes aimed at resolving challenges tied to the supply and pricing of cooking gas in the country’s domestic market.
Louis Ibah, spokesperson for the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, conveyed that the minister intervened in response to the surge in the price of LPG per kilogram, escalating from approximately N700 to over N1,100 in certain regions of the country.
Recently held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja at the minister’s behest, the meeting featured key figures such as Sansay Narasimi from Chevron Nigeria Limited, Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and representatives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
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Africa Today News, New York, highlights that the escalation in LPG prices can be traced back to key challenges, including issues with foreign exchange sourcing for imports and a shortage of supply to the domestic market from producers.
Ekpo voiced President Bola Tinubu’s concerns regarding the exorbitant spike in cooking gas prices and the resulting hardships experienced by a significant portion of the population.
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.’
The minister then instituted a committee, assigning them the task of formulating recommendations within a week to bolster supplies and bring down LPG prices.