The Federal Government has urged International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other producers to fulfil their domestic obligations before export of cooking gas.
The intervention is coming as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report, said that in October LPG prices rose by as much as 14 per cent in October for a 12.5 kg tube.
This shows the readiness of the government to resolve challenges bordering on the supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in the country’s domestic market better known as cooking gas.
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A statement by Louis Ibah, spokesman for the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the minister waded into the issue following a rise in the price of LPG per kg from about N700 to above N1,100 in some parts of the country.
He said the meeting, at the instance of the minister, which was held at the NNPC Towers Abuja recently had in attendance top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited led by Sansay Narasimi; Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on the majority of citizens.
The Minister, who noted that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, said the situation where some of the multinational firms were more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes to the domestic market was unacceptable and should be discouraged.
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, thereafter constituted a committee with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.
