Cooking fuel value could drop
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The value of liquefied petroleum fuel, in any other case referred to as cooking fuel, seems to be on a downward spiral currently.
Consumers who spoke with The PUNCH in Ogun, Lagos, Oyo and others confirmed that the typical value of 1 kilogramme of cooking fuel is now round N1,000 or beneath, relying on the situation and the vendor.
Between February and March, the worth of LPG rose to round N1,300 and above in some areas.
In February, the National Bureau of Statistics stated the worth of 12.5kg of LPG elevated by 46.88 per cent in a single yr.
NBS stated the typical value for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking fuel in February elevated to N15,060.38, in comparison with N10,253.39 in February 2023.
According to the NBS, the typical retail value for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of LPG went up by 28.33 per cent in a month — from N11,735.72 in January 2024 to N15,060.38 in February 2024.
On state profile evaluation, Ogun recorded the very best common retail value for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking fuel at N16,375, adopted by Delta with N16,333, and Edo with N16,321.
But checks by our correspondent confirmed that the worth is step by step coming down throughout the nation.
This, some opined, might not be unconnected with the rebound of the naira in April from about N1,900 per greenback to about N1,500 once more in the mean time.
While the Federal Government stated it could take additional steps to make sure the worth of LPG goes down within the home, operators within the business feared that the worth could quickly go up once more.
Speaking with our correspondent, a resident of Abule Egba in Lagos, Adedokun Ojo, stated she purchased 1kg of LPG on the fee of N940 at Mobil
“LPG is now N940 per kg. I still bought it yesterday evening at Mobil in Abule Egba,” Ojo stated.
Also, a resident of Enugu, Uzor Nneka, disclosed that she bought a kilogramme of the fuel for N1,000 on the Romchi plant in Enugu.
“1kg of cooking gas used to be N1,300 before, but now it is N1,050. The price is coming down,” Jonathan Igbowu, a resident of the Idiroko border neighborhood of Ogun State advised our correspondent.
Our correspondent observes that the costs are totally different in Idiroko primarily based on the vendor. Nojim Ajani said that 1kg of LPG was N750 within the Aferiku space of the city currently.
One Mr Ibrahim Ogunleye talked about that the product bought for N1,200 in Ofa, Kwara State, saying it was once N1,400 some weeks in the past.
Similarly, Mr Quadri Yusuf, who lives at Idi-Aba, Abeokuta stated cooking fuel is now N800/kg, down N1,200 in April.
However, Muraina Akintunde in Ayetoro, regretted that sellers of LPG now cost N1,200/kg within the space, stating that it was once N1,400 until the final week in May.
In Ilaro, Folake Ogunwemimo stated a kilogramme of LPG prices N1,100, whereas Kazim Ajose purchased it for N970 at Sango-Ota, Ogun State.
A police officer, Ola Rotimi, advised The PUNCH that he refilled a 6kg cylinder on the fee of N5,700 at Eco Gas in Abeokuta.
Speaking on the event, the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stated the discount within the value of LPG was a results of the efforts being made by the Federal Government, by means of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) with the complete help of related regulatory businesses within the sector and even operators to extend the quantity of domestically produced cooking fuel coming into the native market.
Ekpo, who spoke by means of his media aide, Louis Ibah, stated the domestication of LPG export has lowered the dependence on imported LPG, and naturally, its attendant added prices because of international alternate fluctuations.
“You will recall that the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, some months again had ordered the domestication of all LPG produced throughout the nation with the goal of stabilising the worth of cooking fuel within the home marketplace for shoppers.
“So, the discount within the value of LPG being witnessed is because of the efforts being made by the Federal Government, by means of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) with the complete help of related regulatory businesses within the sector and even Operators to extend the quantity of domestically produced LPG/cooking fuel coming into the native market.
“This has reduced the dependence on imported LPG, and of course, its attendant added costs due to FOREX fluctuations,” the minister’s spokesperson advised The PUNCH.
He spoke additional that the affect of the federal government waiving Value Added Tax and customs duties on fuel and its gear will need to have contributed to the worth discount.
“And you also must recall and note the positive impact that the federal government’s decision to waive VAT and Customs duties on gas and gas equipment must have had on the price of LPG,” Ibah added.
He confused that the minister has “assured that prices will go down further in the months ahead as more volumes of LPG domestically produced is released into the domestic market,” saying he’s working around the clock together with his staff to attain this.
However, the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers expressed issues that the worth of LPG could surge once more within the coming weeks.
The Executive Secretary of NALPGAM, Bassey Essien, advised our correspondent that the discount occasioned by the naira rebound was being eroded as a result of fuel is priced in {dollars}.
According to Essien, even when the Federal Government boosts native manufacturing of LPG, the worth is not going to be steady as a result of fuel producers promote in international foreign money.
“I received’t say it has come down, as a result of it’s going up once more. And it’s an interaction of the international alternate. Everything is priced in international alternate, very quickly even the air we breathe shall be priced in international alternate.
“Even the LNG that a domestic gas, how do they price it? It is still being priced at the international price, and the international price is dependent on the dollar. Whether you have it in abundance or not, it is still being sold at the international price. The bottom line is everything is priced in forex,” Essien stated, asking the federal government to look into native pricing of fuel.
The PUNCH experiences that the worth of LPG has continued to extend from round N300/kg in 2017, to about N1,400 in February 2024.
This, coupled with the hardship being skilled because of gas subsidy elimination and the floating of the naira, has brought about Nigerians to resort to the normal methods of cooking on an open hearth, utilizing firewood.
According to the International Energy Agency, no fewer than 500,000 African girls die prematurely annually from cooking with firewood, charcoal, or stoves.
The IEA stated African girls and their kids misplaced their lives because of a scarcity of entry to wash cooking.
