By Ayomide Otitoju
The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has attributed the recent surge in cooking gas prices across the country to market manipulation by opportunistic traders, insisting that there has been no official price increase.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, NALPGAM National President Oladapo Olatunbosun said the current price spike — which has seen cooking gas selling between ₦1,700 and ₦2,000 per kilogram, and as high as ₦3,000 in some areas — is artificial and driven by supply disruptions caused by the recent PENGASSAN strike involving the Dangote Refinery.
“I sympathise with Nigerians because we never intended to have a situation like this. Prices of cooking gas have not officially gone up. Some marketers are exploiting the shortage to make quick profits, and that is wrong,” Olatunbosun said.
He explained that before the crisis, Dangote Refinery was releasing up to 50 trucks of LPG daily, serving the South-West and parts of the North. This steady supply, he noted, had previously helped bring prices down to around ₦1,200–₦1,300 per kilogram by eliminating middlemen and making importation less attractive.
However, according to him, temporary maintenance activities at the refinery — followed by the strike — disrupted distribution and created a backlog.
“When Dangote resumed full loading, the strike began. Vessels couldn’t berth for discharge, and inspection officers were unavailable due to the strike, causing about five days of delay. That’s when the impact became obvious,” he explained.
Olatunbosun said that with the strike now over and products being trucked out nationwide, normalcy is expected to return within days.
“The price should not exceed ₦1,300 per kilogram. Anyone selling higher is likely buying from third-party sources, similar to buying fuel from the black market,” he cautioned.
He added that Nigeria’s LPG consumption has grown from 1.3 million metric tons to nearly 2 million metric tons annually, reflecting higher domestic demand.
Olatunbosun assured consumers that both Dangote Refinery and NLNG have resumed full supply operations, expressing confidence that the ongoing scarcity will ease by the weekend.
