Michael James
Lagos – The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, through the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association, LPGAR, has government to come up with clear policy direction for the development of the liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas, in the country to forestall continued rise in the price of the product.
LPGAR, a branch union of NUPENG, said that the LPG, also known as cooking gas, is a clean energy and has been embraced by low income earning Nigerians.
It said the government must come out with a clear policy direction to drive its growth.
A statement by the association, signed by its chairman, Chika Michael Umudu, which was obtained by SweetcrudeReports, also decried the rising cost of the product.
“The union, therefore, expects the government to come up with clear policy direction for the development of LPG in the country to forestall the ugly situation.
“LPG as a clean energy has steadily been embraced by low income earning Nigerians in the last seven years against previous years when it was seen as the preserve of the rich,” the statement read.
It added: “The branch union considers as an irony that such price rises are happening at the time when government is, through policy statements, assuring Nigerians of adequate supply of the product at affordable prices.”
Current market prices revealed an increment of up to N1,000 for the 12.5 kilogramme of the LPG within the last two weeks.
Within Lagos and neighbouring states, the 12.5kg is now being sold for N8,500 from N7,500 while in the Northern, South East and South-South parts of the country, the price has increased to N9,000/N9,500 from N8,000/N8,500.
Depots prices also increased significantly as 20 metric tons of cooking gas is now being sold for N11 million as against N10 million.
Umudu described the situation as worrisome, noting that the increase in the price of the product is now on a daily basis in both depots and retail outlets.
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