New Gas Pricing Template Due May 29 -FG

• New Gas Pricing Template Due May 29 -FG

In an effort to address exorbitant charges imposed by gas distributors on natural gas used by commercial consumers in the manufacturing sector, the Federal Government has announced it would release a new gas pricing template on May 29 to address the ‘unreasonable charges.’

Dr Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, disclosed this during an interactive session on National Gas Policy and Regulation on Tuesday.

The Minister said the $7.45 per standard cubic feet of gas paid by manufacturers in the country is too high.

In 2018, the government specified that the price of gas should be market driven and based on Export Parity Price but lack of enforcement had resulted in people fixing all kinds of prices for gas, Kachikwu stated.

He said, “Government is relying on market-derived pricing mechanism which matches the international pricing. This is the law that people are overlooking and manufacturing figures from nowhere.

“If the international price of gas is $5, why should the end user in Nigeria pay $8?”

“We are unable to see how the current structure conforms to the rules that have been set.”

He added, “The proposed pricing will be done before May 29.”