The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR) has appealed to the federal government to provide incentives to LPG investors to make the price affordable.

Ayobami Olarinoye, branch national chairman of LPGAR, appealed in an interview on Friday against the backdrop of incessant hikes in the price of cooking gas.

“We are appealing to the federal government to provide incentives to the LPG investors to make the price affordable,” said Mr Olarinoye.

According to Mr Olarinoye, LPG price has recorded a 30 per cent increment in the last three weeks and is likely to continue.

He attributed the development to off-takers and depot owners’ continuance to make an upward review of the price almost daily.

He said some LPGAR members had run out of stock because they could not restock their outlets due to the sharp increases.

Mr Olarinoye added that the development had brought untold hardship to Nigerians after the recent subsidy removal.

“Similarly, our union believes that the incessant rise in LPG prices would be contained if more storage facilities were built by the major marketers and off-takers.

“We equally think that both states and federal governments should equally intervene in the way of building depots and maintaining the existing ones built by the federal government,” he said.

He also appealed to the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) to increase its production capacity to meet the rising demand for LPG.

The president of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), Olatunbosun Oladapo, said cooking gas prices have increased at terminals.

He said the increase was due to a sudden increment from N9 million to N10 million per 20 metric tons to N14 million per 20 metric tons.

He called on the Minister of State Gas Resources and other government agencies to audit the volume of cooking gas supplied to the domestic market by NLNG.

Mr Olatunbosun noted that Nigeria’s cooking gas consumption had dropped to around 700,000 metric tons per annum in the last year.

(NAN)