By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
RISING CONCERNS have emerged over the sudden spike in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, as the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) described the current increase as artificial and driven by opportunistic market behaviour.
The Association’s National President, Oladapo Olatunbosun, made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, where he reacted to the ongoing product scarcity caused mainly by the industrial crisis between members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Dangote Refinery.
Olatunbosun said that while the supply disruption had affected distribution, there had been no official increment in LPG prices.
He noted that the current retail prices, ranging between N1,700 and N2,000 per kilogram across several locations and as high as N3,000 in extreme cases, were unjustified.
“I sympathise with Nigerians as the President of NALPGAM because we never intended to have a situation like this,” he said.
He stressed that the price increase was not a reflection of official policy or production costs but rather the result of profiteering.
“I must say it categorically that prices of cooking gas have not gone up. No increment has been done officially. What is happening is that some marketers are taking advantage of the shortage in supply and the market forces that have increased demand.
“They are cashing up to make good money, which is wrong. We frown at this as an Association, and I’m happy that by the grace of God, normalcy will return in the next few days,” he stated.
Explaining the circumstances that triggered the scarcity, Olatunbosun said the situation developed from a combination of refinery maintenance, loading delays, and the subsequent industrial strike.
He recalled that before the crisis, one kilogram of LPG sold between N1,200 and N1,300 but had reduced further following steady production by the Dangote Refinery.
“Dangote eliminated middlemen, and that made gas to land at a reasonable price,” he explained.
He noted that the refinery had previously maintained a daily output of about 50 truckloads, serving the South-West and parts of the North effectively when combined with supplies from Apapa and other depots sourcing from International Oil Companies (IOCs).
“Dangote came in with his own strategy, selling directly to offtakers, and that made importation unattractive because anyone importing would incur losses,” he said.
However, according to Olatunbosun, a temporary maintenance shutdown at the refinery disrupted loading activities.
“Trucks started spending like 14 days at Dangote yard before they could get products. So, marketers switched to Apapa, and nobody felt the impact immediately,” he explained.
He said that when the refinery completed maintenance and was set to resume full operations, the strike by PENGASSAN disrupted supply chains again.
“Although Dangote didn’t stop production, everybody had rushed to Apapa, and it was now out of product, and all the depots there were dry,” Olatunbosun said.
He added that further delays were caused by a vessel from the NOJ axis that could not berth due to the strike. “The only vessel that came in to supply the depot could not berth because of the strike.
Even when it berthed, the officers to inspect it weren’t on the ground because of the strike, and that caused about five days’ loss. The real impact of the backlog became obvious,” he said.
The NALPGAM president assured that with the end of the strike, product discharge and distribution have resumed, though full normalcy would take some days to restore.
“Now that the strike is off, the product has been discharged, and they are trucking out. But because everywhere is dry and the South West is the only place that consumes the largest amount of LPG in Nigeria, it will take a short while for supply to stabilise,” he added.
Olatunbosun reaffirmed that NALPGAM remained committed to consumer protection and fair market practices, warning marketers against exploiting the temporary scarcity for profit.
He expressed optimism that as production and distribution stabilise, prices will return to reasonable levels reflective of actual supply conditions rather than market speculation.
The Association said it continues to monitor developments within the sector, urging all stakeholders to support measures that ensure adequate distribution and discourage artificial price manipulation.
