The rising cost of gas has had a significant impact on people’s budget. Cooking gas is a necessity for many households and some have difficulties in deciding if to abandon cooking gas and adopt kerosene or firewood as an alternative.
Cooking gas is beneficial to most people because it is cleaner and more efficient to use. It also emits fewer pollutants making it a more environmentally friendly option. It allows for more precise temperature control.
According to the National Bureau Statistics, the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas/LPG) increased by 5.82 percent on a month-on-month basis from N4,562.51 recorded in October 2023 to N4,549.14 in November 2022. On a state by state analysis, Benue recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas at N 5,466.67.
The increase to this is due to a combination of factors including a weakening local currency. The Nigeria’s LPG infrastructure is still undeveloped, which makes it difficult and expensive to transport and distribute gas. Government policies such as import duties and taxes also contribute to the high price of cooking gas.
Aisosa Oviahon a gas dealer, stated that before the recent increment, gas used to be from about N650 to N900 per kilogram depends on where you are buying from whether from a gas plant or retail seller but currently price of gas is between N900 and N1000 per kilogram also depending on where you are buying it from. He reiterated that the price of a kilogram of gas is always fluctuating and there are various factors responsible for it.
One of the factors can be the season of the year. During winter in Europe generally, the prices of gas tend to go up here because gas is what is mainly used for heating in the western world. Also, he stated that shipping and demurrage caused a hike in gas price.
“If a product comes from overseas and it spends so much time before it is able to berth at the port, the extra time spent on the sea would be calculated in the final cost of the gas,” Oviahon said.
A housewife Oluwadara Anita stated her intention in opting for kerosene instead of gas. According to her, kerosene is more affordable compared to the rising price of cooking gas. The National Bureau Statistics revealed that the average retail price per litre of household kerosene in November 2023 was N1287.10, indicating a decline of 1.23 percent when compared to N1,303.16 recorded in October 2023. On a year on year basis, the average retail prices per litre of the product rose by 18.78 percent from N1083.57 in November 2022. Basically, this report shows that the price of kerosene is not in any way less expensive than gas.
Aisosa further stated that the government has little they can do concerning the cost of gas because the commodity is fully deregulated, meaning that the government does not have a hand in the determination of the price of gas because it is an open market.
Marketers buy the product from overseas and they sell it according to the price they bought it. In his words “The only thing the government can do is to stabilize the dollar rate because if the dollar rate comes down, definitely the prices of gas would follow suit.”
More importantly, the major thing the government can do which would reduce the price of gas is to make sure they increase our refining capacity. If they increase the capacity to refine LPG, that will bring down the cost of cooking gas.
