Business

NNPC Attributes Cooking Gas Price Surge to PENGASSAN Strike

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has linked the recent spike in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), popularly called cooking gas, to the brief nationwide strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, made the disclosure on Sunday during a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu.

Patriotic Insights News’ checks on Monday revealed that the price of a 12.5kg cylinder had soared across major cities. In Lagos, cylinders were sold for N26,000 around Amuwo Odofin and N27,000 at Iyana Ipaja, representing N2,080 and N2,200 per kilogram, respectively. In Abuja, the Dutse axis recorded sales of N20,000 per cylinder (N1,600 per kg). This reflects a 48.57 percent increase from the previous rate of N17,500.

Ojulari explained that the price hike was partly artificial, resulting from delays in distribution during the strike. “Movements and loading were delayed by two to three days. Some marketers with existing stock capitalized on the situation by raising prices,” he said.

He reassured Nigerians that prices were expected to stabilise soon. “Now that operations are back to normal, we anticipate that cooking gas prices will return to their previous levels,” Ojulari stated.

The strike, initially planned in protest of the Dangote Refinery’s dismissal of Nigerian workers, was suspended on October 1 following federal government intervention. Dangote Group subsequently agreed to redeploy the affected staff.

Olayinka Babatunde