The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, (NALPGAM), says some retailers are exploiting a current supply shortage to hike the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.
The association’s national president, Oladapo Olatunbosun, who stated this during a television programme in Wednesday, clarified that the price of the product has not been officially increased.
He said, “But I must say categorically that the price of gas has not gone up. No increment has been done officially. What is happening is that people are catching up on the little shortage in supply and the market forces that have made the demand go up higher than the available quantity.
“They are catching-up on it to make good money, which is wrong. We frown at this as an association; and I’m happy, by the grace of God Almighty, that in the next few days normalcy will come”.
He added that Nigerians would continue to enjoy cooking gas at reasonable prices once the supply situation stabilises.
Speaking further, Olatunbosun explained that the “artificial” scarcity of LPG resulted from inconsistent supply by the Ɗangote refinery, compounded by the strike action embarked upon by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN).
He said Ɗangote refinery previously sold LPG to around 50 trucks each day – enough to cater to consumers in the South-West and some northern regions.
He explained that this development made the landing cost reasonable, adding that it rendered importation unattractive since importers could not compete effectively.
“But at the time, Ɗangote also commenced renovation/maintenance, which actually delayed loading. There was a time that trucks were spending about 13 to 14 days in Ɗangote yard before they could get products”, Olatunbosun stated.
He explained that the PENGASSAN strike prevented vessels from being offloaded at the depots, as there were no officials available to carry out inspections.
However, Olatunbosun noted that the situation has improved, and is expected to get better by the weekend as new vessels carrying the product arrive.
