•Assures of normalcy next week

By Adewale Sanyaolu

The Federal Government has ordered the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to launch a full scale crackdown on cooking gas marketers involved in racketeering and sabotage across the value chain.

To ensure compliance, the Minister has mandated NMDPRA to intensify the monitoring of LPG depots across the country to prevent product hoarding and other sharp practices capable of worsening the current situation.

The directive comes in the wake of cooking gas scarcity and its attendant effect on prices which has risen from N1,000 to as high as N2,000 per kilogramme in some parts of the country

A statement which quoted the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, expressed concern over the recent increase in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), known as cooking gas.

The Minister appealed  for calm and understanding from Nigerians, assuring that the situation is temporary and will normalise very soon.

Ekpo explained that the recent price surge was primarily caused by two factors: the industrial action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) at the Dangote Refinery, which temporarily halted LPG loading and the ongoing maintenance activities at the Nigeria LNG Train 4 facility, which reduced the volume of LPG available in the domestic market.

According to him, these disruptions led to a shortfall in supply and a consequent increase in prices due to demand–supply imbalance.

The Minister however noted that operations at the Dangote Refinery have now resumed, with loading of LPG to the domestic market already underway.

Similarly, the Bonny River Terminal operated by Seplat Energy has commenced loading, while the Nigeria LNG is gradually restoring normal operations as maintenance nears completion.

With these developments, he said, supply to the domestic market is expected to stabilise by next week, leading to a gradual reduction in prices.

Ekpo also reiterated that the LPG market is deregulated and appealed to marketers, distributors, and all stakeholders along the LPG value chain to be patriotic in their dealings, desist from hoarding, and refrain from exploiting consumers for profit.

He reassured Nigerians that the Federal Government remains committed to ensuring sufficient and affordable gas supply to all households across the country.

Recall that NMDPRA had last week disclosed that less than 3,000 cooking gas refilling plants are serving over 200 million Nigerians.

The disclosure may not be unconnected with current cooking gas scarcity being experienced in some parts of the country as this affects gas penetration.

Authority Chief Executive(ACE), NMDPRA, Mr.Farouk Ahmed, stated this at the National Association of Energy Correspondents(NAEC) Energy Conference 2025 held in Lagos, yesterday with the theme “Nigeria’s Energy Future:Exploring Opportunities and Addressing Risks for Sustainable Growth,”.

Represented by the Head of Public Affairs, George Ene Ita, Ahmed said as a country, Nigeria is in urgent need of a diversified investment approach in our energy mix to further drive an expansion in the economy beyond the traditional focus on fossils.

He added that as the country invests in gas infrastructure, we must also ensure we diversify our energy sources and reduce dependency on any single fuel.

“It is important to note that the number of LPG refiling plants in the country is less than 3000 while the CNG compression station is less than 50 for a country of over 200 million citizens,”.

He noted that constructive approach to developing our other energy sources would have the potential to enable sustained growth in our economy, create jobs and expand the country’s revenue base and offer a diversified basket of multiple streams of revenues for the government to enable multilateral growth to scale national development.