The Federal Government (FG) has revealed plans to solve the challenges involved in the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) better known as cooking gas. This was made known by Louis Ibah, the spokesperson for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stating that the minister decided to wade into the issue as a result of the rise in the price of LPG per kg from about N700 to above N1,100 in some parts of the nation.
According to the statement, a meeting was recently held and had in attendance top officials of the Nigerian Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed; Chevron Nigeria Limited and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
During the meeting, key challenges identified for the price increase of LPG include FX sourcing for imports, insufficient supply to the domestic market by producers, amongst other challenges.
The Minister 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.”
According to reports, the Minister has set-up a committee with the objective of creating recommendations of how to boost supplies and crash the price of LPG within a week.
