Hope for an early reduction in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as cooking gas, which has hit the roof, may remain an illusion for a long while. LPG sells for N480 per kg or N6,000 per 12.5 kg.
The Group Managing Director Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said the cooking gas price surge might linger until the volume supplied to the domestic market is increased.
Kyari, who spoke during a visit to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) headquarters assured Nigerians that the corporation was working with relevant agencies to ensure that the supply increased to cut down the price of gas.
“Today, this country is undersupplied with gas; we can tell you that we are having difficulty filling our network across the country with gas. So that means that once supply is weak, it will affect pricing. Today, the supply mechanism of LPG is very weak. So, we are collaborating extensively to ensure that we are able to extract LPG from our gas resources so that it can be made available to the market,” he said.
“To make price more affordable, we are working towards providing more volume of gas into the domestic market. By doing this, we make it very close to home and extend the networks, once supply is high, it will definitely bring down the prices,” he added.
Similarly, DPR Director, Sarki Auwalu, said there were plans to increase gas production to 230 trillion cubic feet by 2030.
“Let me take this opportunity to inform the GMD of the NNPC that as at last year, we were able to increase the gas reserve with 3.6tcf,” Sarki noted.
