On a year-on-year basis, the average retail price of cooking gas rose from N400 in August 2021 to N809 in August 2022. This represents an increase of 102.38 per cent in the period under review.
According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a kg of gas was sold for N789.75 in July 2022 and rose to N809.52 kobo in August 2022. This indicates an increase of 2.50 percent on a month-on-month basis.
The report also stated that gas was sold for different prices across states in Nigeria.
The highest average prices per litre in August were recorded in the states of Imo with N1083.33, Ekiti with N1,026.92 and Enugu with N1,017.74.
Meanwhile, Nasarawa state recorded the lowest price of gas per kg with N627.45 kobo. This was followed by River with N627.45 and Adamawa with N633.33.
In the zonal analysis, cooking gas was sold higher in the South East when compared to other zones. It was sold at the average retail price of N953.88 per kg. South-West followed with N910.85 per kg while the South-South recorded the lowest with N749.51.
Investors King learnt that many consumers are having difficulty adjusting to the high cost of cooking gas. They lament that the high cost of food and the increase in cooking gas are making life unbearable for them.
Analysts believed the increase in price is due to the scarcity of the commodity in Nigeria, a nation with vast gas reserves but limited infrastructure or technical know-how on gas processes.
Also, the wide foreign exchange rate between Nigerian Naira and its global counterparts is forcing many Nigeria’s gas producers to export their product instead selling in the local market.
In August, European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Isopi, Nigeria is the fourth largest exporter of Gas to Euro-area due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, hence why he was in Nigeria to strengthen the economic relationship between Nigeria and Europe, particularly in the area of possible increase in the supplies of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
He said “Nigeria is the fourth gas supplier to Europe. At least 40 per cent of the Nigerian LNG is currently exported to Europe. We are not only major clients for Nigeria, we are also major partners in the oil and gas sector because some of the companies that are working with you are from Europe. So we share the same interest and same objectives.”