The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has debunked stories of an official improve within the value of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), generally generally known as cooking fuel, attributing the latest value hikes to opportunistic retailers benefiting from non permanent shortage.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, the affiliation’s nationwide president, Oladapo Olatunbosun, clarified that the market value of LPG has not been formally raised by producers or regulators.
“The price of gas has not gone up. No increment has been done officially,” Olatunbosun stated. “What we are witnessing is that some people are exploiting a slight shortage in supply and the resulting surge in demand to make undue profit. That’s wrong, and as an association, we frown at it.”
He expressed optimism that normalcy in provide and pricing would return within the coming days, assuring customers that they’d proceed to entry cooking fuel at affordable charges as soon as provide stabilizes.
Olatunbosun linked the continuing shortage to irregular provide from the Dangote Refinery and disruptions brought on by the strike motion of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
According to him, Dangote Refinery had been supplying about 50 vans of LPG every day, catering to main elements of the southwest and a few areas within the north.
However, a latest upkeep train on the refinery slowed down loading operations, inflicting delays of as much as two weeks for entrepreneurs.
“Trucks were spending 13 to 14 days at the refinery before getting products,” he stated. “This delay disrupted the flow of gas into the market. During that period, many marketers switched to Apapa depots, which helped cushion the effect.”
The state of affairs worsened, he stated, when the PENGASSAN strike halted product offloading at depots, as there have been no officers out there to oversee inspections and clearances.
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“Dangote didn’t stop production, but vessels could not be discharged. Depots in Apapa ran dry, and marketers had no alternative source,” Olatunbosun defined.
He famous that the mixed results of the refinery downtime and the strike prompted a shortfall that lasted about 5 days, considerably affecting provide and costs.
The NALPGAM president assured Nigerians that the state of affairs has began enhancing, with vessels anticipated to dump new LPG cargoes earlier than the weekend.
“By the grace of God, in the next few days, things will normalise,” Olatunbosun stated.
He urged retailers to desist from arbitrary value hikes and warranted customers that the affiliation is working intently with producers and regulators to make sure truthful pricing and regular provide throughout the nation.
