Scarcity of Liquefied Petroleum Gas also known as cooking gas has hit Lagos and some other states in the country.
The other affected states, according to findings by our correspondents are: Katsina, Sokoto, Delta, Kaduna and Kano.
The rise in price of the commodity has been noticed since late last month, causing a continuous rise in prices.
Gas terminal owners increased price by 66 per cent in October alone. Price of 20 metric tons of cooking gas rose from N10m at the beginning of last month to N16 million as of late last month despite NLNG currently supplying 20MT of cooking gas to them at N9m.
Market survey carried out over the weekend, revealed that 12.5kg of cooking gas now sells for between N13,500 and N14,000 at the black market.
As of June, the price of 12.5kg was around N8, 700. In September price rose to N10, 200, and as of Saturday, price had again risen to between N13, 500-N14, 000.
According to findings, the scarcity was first observed about two weeks ago as several small retailers complained of non-availability. Investigation has also shown that a kilogram of cooking gas goes for nothing less than N1, 400 in the state.
Scarcity of cooking gas has also been noticed in Sokoto State metropolis in the last few days, leading to prices being increased indiscriminately.
In Kaduna and Kano states residents are engaging in panic buying of the commodity leading to a hike in the price with 5 kilogram selling for N5, 500.
In Delta State findings from Warri and Effurun metropolitan cities show that the price of cooking gas has shot up to N1,100 per kg as of Sunday, 5th November, 2023.
The commodity was selling at N800 per kg in October in the twin cities.
Meanwhile reports from Abuja and Kwara showed that consumers are not experiencing scarcity though prices remain high.
There are claims that Nigeria had the fastest growing LPG sector in the world with a projected LPG market size of $10bn, as the annual per capita consumption of LPG had risen from 1.8kilogramme in 2015 to 5kg in 2021. According to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, domestic consumption of cooking gas exceeded 1 million MT in 2020. It said the consumption rate made 2020 the first year in the nation’s history when LPG consumption reached the 1 million MT thresholds.
