Cooking Gas Scarcity Hits Lagos As Nigeria LNG Replaces Storage Vessel

Following the replacement of the mother vessel that is used to store Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG); also known as ‘cooking gas’, offshore Lagos by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) operators of the commodity have said that the market is currently experiencing scarcity of cooking gas.

Following the replacement of the mother vessel that is used to store Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG); also known as ‘cooking gas’, offshore Lagos by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) operators of the commodity have said that the market is currently experiencing scarcity of cooking gas.
President of the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, Alhaji Auwalu Ilu told Shipping Position Daily last week that for the past one month, there has been scarcity of cooking gas in Lagos and that the market price of the product has consequently been forced to rise.
Auwalu said that the increase in price is due to the fact that the NLNG had to replace the mother vessel that is used to store the product offshore Lagos with a small vessel that can berth at any of the jetties.
“For the past one month, there has been scarcity of LPG, the one we had has been expended and it is still the one in circulation, there has been no new delivery, this is because the contract of the vessel that usually brings the gas from the NLNG just ended and there was need to replace it”, he confirmed.
He said that the documentation of the new vessel is taking a while and that this is why the ship has not been up and running.
Auwalu however assured that, “hopefully by next week, we hope that the vessel documentation would have been completed and it would have started running and by next month, we would have another steady supply of cooking gas”.
Shipping Position Daily also gathered that the move to replace the vessel is aimed at encouraging investments in any segment of the LPG business such as production of the burners, the cylinders, hose and other accessories needed to operate cooking gas. It is also to promote the use of the product among Nigerians.
Apart from these, Auwalu confirmed that the price of cooking gas is expected to come down very soon and that this is expected to follow the reduction in the cost of freight as a result of the use of a smaller vessel.
This will, in turn, make the product to be cheaper for the off-takers who sell the product to the wholesalers.
Investigations carried out by our correspondent at some gas refilling stands last week revealed that the unit cost of a 12.5kg gas cylinder which was formerly between N2, 500 and N2, 800 depending on the location is now N3, 200.
The price of the 6kg which was formerly between N1, 400 and N1, 500 is now N1, 800.