The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) has called on the federal government to find a lasting solution to the rising price of cooking gas in the country.

NALPGAM national president Abideen Olatunbosun stated this during the 36th annual general meeting of the association held in Ibadan on Tuesday.

Mr Olatunbosun said, “It is very vital for me to state that continuous increase in the price of gas in recent times stands as a big challenge to LPG marketers. The government needs to find ways to ensure the stability of gas prices as well as make gas available to common Nigerians.

“As a country, we need to improve on our gas utilisation level, and if we all adopt gas, it will save our forest and improve the quality of our lifestyle and the economy will grow.”

According to him, the gas price hike concerns all, calling for a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector to establish critical gas infrastructure.

The guest speaker, Sunday Isehunwa of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan, said LPG offered a huge promise for increased domestic gas utilisation in Nigeria.

He said cooking gas also served as the country’s energy transition to net-zero carbon emission by 2060. According to Isehunwa, there is a need for increased LPG supply to meet rising demand and curtail sharp practices by some operators.

“The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has been the major supplier of LPG. However, additional supplies are essential through functional refineries and adequate natural gas processing facilities. Removal of difficulties in importation when necessary is also essential for additional supplies,” said Mr Isehunwa.

He added, “Adequate infrastructure development is highly necessary to enhance access to LPG by rural communities. Accessibility will increase through increased economic empowerment of consumers and relatively low costs of products.”

Ogbugo Ukoha of the Nigerian Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said the recent deregulation policy would result in reflective petroleum products pricing.

Mr Ukoha, NMDPRA’s executive director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, noted that current data had shown that the domestic gas supply had overtaken the import supply.

Mr Ukoha said that necessary infrastructure investment must be put in place to address the challenges of the gas reserve to achieve smooth distribution of the product.

“Our focus is to make the necessary investment in gas infrastructure to increase LPG supply so as to force its price down for Nigerians,” said Mr Ukoha.

(NAN)