The federal government, through the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has intervened in the issue of the rising price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per kg, which has increased from about N700 to above N1000 in some parts of the country.
This was disclosed by Louis Ibah, the spokesperson for the minister.
According to Ibah, a meeting was held recently at the NNPC Towers in Abuja at the instance of the minister. The meeting was attended by top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited, led by Sansay Narasimi; the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed; and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
During the meeting, the minister expressed concern over the exponential increase in the price of LPG.
He stated, “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.”
He acknowledged the challenges faced due to some producers exporting while the country is grappling with importation.
He emphasised the need for collaboration with the government to ensure the security of gas supply, especially as the demand for LPG is expected to increase as December approaches.
“Public interest is the overriding interest all over the world for the government… 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 said.
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In response to the situation, the minister constituted a committee with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.