How Ban On LPG Export Crashed Domestic Gas Price, By Marketers
By Abimbola Abdullah
The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers has disclosed that the ban on export of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by the Federal Government has led to a drastic reduction in prices locally.
National President of the association, Mr. Oladapo Olatunbosun stated this during a courtesy visit by the group to the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo in Abuja on Wednesday.
He commended the minister for the courage and boldness in ordering the domestication of all LPG produced within the country saying the policy has resulted in the reduction and stabilisation of the product’s price in the domestic market.
Olatunbosun recalled that during a stakeholders consultative forum in Abuja in February this year, the association had drawn the Minister’s attention to the fact that some International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria had been exporting huge volumes of gas out of the country, and that if these volumes were to be available for the domestic market, there would be no need to import LPG at exorbitant rates as the product will be available and there will be price stability in the local market.
He thanked Ekpo for heeding to their plea saying his intervention has seen the price of LPG that was sold fo N20million per 20 metric tonnes reduced to N15million per 20 metric tonnes, and at the retail end a corresponding decrease from N1,400 – N1,500 per kilogramme to between N900 – N1,000 per kilogramme.
Said Olatunbosun: “We appreciate the fact that at the parley with us you promised that the issue of exporting LPG in the face of inadequate supply and soar in prices will be addressed, and indeed you have taken steps to walk the talk.
“Today we say thank you because the ban on LPG export has made a lot of changes in the market and consumers can testify to this. People who abandoned their gas cylinders due to price hike are coming back and we are confident that by the time the naira gains more weight, consumers will enjoy better price of LPG.”
The Gas Minister in his response decried the situation where Nigeria, a major gas producer, was ranked among countries with the lowest consumers of the product, assuring of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment in deepening the penetration of gas in the country.
Ekpo lauded the marketers for their cooperation in bringing down prices to reflect current realities following the ban on export of LPG saying “we would not have gone that far without your cooperation and support.”
“We are working towards ensuring that our vast gas resources is available domestically at the right price for the public in line with President Bola Tinubu’s aspiration for the sector and economy,” he added.
