Prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, have risen exponentially over the past seven months. Investigations by New National Star nationwide revealed that prices of cooking gas, which is used in most Nigerian homes, rose by 50 per cent between January and July 2021.
The price of a kilogramme of LPG, which was N283 at the beginning of the year, increased gradually over the course of seven months. The highest price change in the period was between N10 and N20, but these changes have now summed up to an addition of N207, pushing the price to N490 per kg. A retailer at Shema filling station in Kado, Abuja, who spoke with one of our correspondents, Ikraam Shehu, said that he first noticed the price change in October, 2020 and that the price had continued to rise from then till July.
Another retailer, Eze Daniels, who manages Merigas gas station in Wuye, Abuja said that in January, refilling a 3kg cylinder cost N850 and since then there had been no reduction in the price. According to him, as recently as July 13, N20 was added to the price of a kilogramme to push it to N490. Shehu said that the absence of regulation in the LPG sector was one reason prices kept going up and that marketers exploited the loopholes in the industry.
Both Shehu and Daniels were of the opinion that the price of the product was bound to keep increasing. In Enugu State, cooking gas users and retailers are moaning over the increment. Last November, 1 kg of cooking gas cost N320, refilling a 12.5 cylinder cost N4,000, refilling a 6 kg cylinder cost N1,920 and refilling a 3kg cylinder cost N960. At the beginning of the year, those prices increased by 18.75 per cent to cost N4,750 (12.5kg), and N2280 (6kg) while refilling a 3kg cylinder rose by 15.79 per cent to N1,140. In July, the cost of refilling 12.5kg rose by 15.56 per cent to N5,625, the cost of refilling 6kg and 3kg rose by 18.42 per cent to N2,700 and N1,350 respectively.
A public servant in the state and mother of three who identified herself as Mrs. Kamsi bemoaned the galloping rise in gas prices. She said, “We are under siege, hemmed in all around by galloping inflation. Firewood is dear so also is kerosene, and gas too has gone out of easy reach. Even sawdust and charcoal prices are on the rise.” In Ebonyi State, last November the costs of refilling 12.5kg, 6kg and 3 kg cylinders were N3,750, N1,800 and N960 respectively. In July the prices increased by 37.5 per cent and 46.67 per cent. The cost of refilling 12.5 and 6 kgs rose by 46.67 per cent to N5,500 and N2,640 respectively while the cost of refilling a 3kg cylinder rose by 37.5 per cent to N1,320. In Nasarawa State, between the last quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, the cost of cooking gas increased between 48.68 per cent and 50 per cent. A 12.5 kg refill cost N3,800 by the end of 2020 but by July it cost N5,650, increasing by 48.68 per cent, while the costs of refilling both 6 and 3 kg cylinders increased by 50 per cent.
A refill of 6 kg cost N1,800 in the last quarter of 2020, while in July it cost N2,700. Refilling a 3 kg cylinder cost N900 in the last quarter of 2020 and in July it had increased to N1,350. Residents in Lagos State are also battling the increasing cost of cooking gas which leapt as high as 50 per cent from November 2020 till July 2021. Refilling 6 kg used to cost N1,800 last November but has now risen up to N2,700 in July showing an increase of 50 per cent.