…Seeks Presidency intervention
By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR) branch of NUPENG has raised the alarm over the skyrocketing price of cooking gas, which has hit an all time high of N4,000 from N2,500.
This is coming as consumers have expressed their frustrations over the escalating price of the commodity. Some consumers who spoke to Daily Sun at the premises of some retail outlets Thursday in Lagos said they have resorted to kerosene and other energy sources. ‘‘I have been out of cooking gas since Saturday and all efforts to get the product has been abortive. The only place I saw it insisted on N4,000. That, to me, is on the high side. Please, help us appeal to government to address the situation,’’ said Mrs. Linda Opara, a housewife.
The situation is, however, different for those who live in highbrow areas as the retail outlets in such locations have jacked up the prices to N5,000 for a 12.5kg cylinder of gas.
The association, has, therefore called on the Presidency to intervene in the scarcity of the product, which has grounded the retail arm of the business for over one month.
LPGAR equally wants the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, to investigate why Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Bonny in Rivers State should become scarce, even when it is produced in-country and not imported. Chairman of LPGAR, Mr. Michael Imudu, told Daily Sun that the irregular supply of cooking gas to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plants has led to acute shortages and arbitrariness in price to the advantage of a privileged few.
The situation, according to him, has subjected Nigerians who depend on the product for domestic and commercial use to resort to self help by reverting to other sources of energy, including charcoal and firewood, to meet their energy needs.
This unconventional means of resorting to dirty fuel is injurious to health and a huge setback to the Federal Government’s campaign of promoting the use of LPG, which is considered to be environmentally friendly, cheap and not harmful to the ozone layer.
“The price of 12.5kg of cooking gas had risen from N2,500 in May to N4,000 within Lagos and neighbouring communities of Ogun State. Within the same period in other parts of the country, the price rose from N2,700 to N5,000. In some towns and even in parts of major cities, the product is so scarce that people have to abandon their gas cylinders and resort to sourcing of alternative means of energy,’’ Imudu lamented.
He said it remained regrettable that at a time when the association and other gas stakeholders had stepped up campaign on the use of LPG and its inherent benefits, some enemies of progress have decided to frustrate such efforts by creating artificial scarcity for the product.
He said his members spend days at LPG plants before they can purchase the product while so many plants have resorted to rationing; others were completely out of stock.
The statement said that LPGAR finds it difficult to comprehend why it should be so difficult to supply LPG from LNG plant in Bonny, Rivers State, to the various depots in Lagos, adding that the sharp increase in the price of cooking gas was not acceptable to the association.
Recall that Daily Sun had on June 3, reported the alleged diversion of LPG vessels to a private terminal.
Executive Secretary of Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers (NALPGAM), Mr. Bassey Essien, had told Daily Sun that the development has led to a disruption in the LPG supply chain leading to skyrocketing prices.
He said the disruption in supply has led to a 12.5kg cylinder of gas selling for N3,500 as against the initial price of N2,500, warning that, if not addressed, the price could hit N4,000.
‘‘The development has led to the gradual rise of 20 metric tonnes of gas from N2.4 million to N3.5 million in a space of one week. And that is why we are using the opportunity to alert the concerned authorities to the effect of this unpatriotic trend because if we keep quiet, the price may hit N4 million for 20 metric tonnes,’’ he warned.
Essien alleged that officials of the Marine Transportation Department of the Pipelines Products Marketing Company (PPMC), in connivance with a private gas terminal – NAFGAS owned by ALGASCO, a subsidiary of the Vitol Group, were frustrating the efforts of gas marketers to have access to cheap products.
He had explained that, rather than vessels berthing and discharging at the PPMC terminal, its officials deliberately create bottlenecks that would make it extremely impossible for vessels to discharge forcing them to use the facilities of the private terminal, which in turn would use the opportunity to hike prices.