The Federal Government has banned the export of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), often known as cooking gas, in order to improve supplies and lower prices across the country.
This was announced to journalists by the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, at the ‘Internal Stakeholders’ workshop on Thursday, February 22, 2024 in Abuja.
According to the minister who spoke on the sidelines of the event, LPG producers have been advised to halt exporting the commodity out of Nigeria due to the recent increase in the cost of cooking gas.
The workshop’s focus is “Harnessing Nigeria’s Proven Gas Reserves for Economic Growth and Development.”
When asked what the government has done to control the rising cost of domestic petrol, Ekpo stated that the ministry is constantly discussing the issue with critical stakeholders such as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, as well as operators such as Mobil, Chevron, and Shell.
He explained that if exports of domestically manufactured domestic petrol are halted, there will be more volume for the domestic market, causing the product’s price to fall.
He said, “We are interacting with critical stakeholders to ensure that there is no exportation of LPG.
“All LPG produced within the country will have to be domesticated. And when this is done, the volume will increase and of course, the price will automatically crash.
“With the issue of gas, you have seen the demonstration of the Federal Government by withdrawing all taxes and levies from the importation of gas-related equipment. It is a big incentive.
“On the issue of LPG (cooking gas), we are interacting with the critical sectors to ensure that there is no exportation of LPG. All LPG produced within the country will have to be domesticated. And when this is done, the volume will increase and, of course, the price will automatically crash.
“I’m in contact with the regulator, NMDPRA, we have meetings almost daily with the producers of the gas like Mobil, Chevron and Shell. So there is that hope that things will turn around.
“And that is also why we are having this engagement to know exactly what the problems are so that we can address them once and for all.”
There have been reports of escalating prices of cooking gas in major cities across the country with the prices hovering between N17,000 and N18,000, as against the N9,000 the product was selling around November last year.
Earlier in September 2023, gas retailers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers warned that the price of a 12.5kg cooking gas cylinder could surge to N18,000 by December 2023 if the Federal Government does not intervene to regulate the actions of terminal owners.
The president of the association, Olatunbosun Oladapo, attributed this unjustifiable price hike to terminal owners who, he alleged, are exploiting the excuse of a high foreign exchange rate to increase prices, causing significant hardship to the general population.