Marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) popularly called cooking gas, have continued to lament scarcity of the commodity as a result of the dispute between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) which has led to price hike and gradual disappearance of cooking gas from the Nigerian homes.
Marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) popularly called cooking gas, have continued to lament scarcity of the commodity as a result of the dispute between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) which has led to price hike and gradual disappearance of cooking gas from the Nigerian homes.
The NLNG Limited which solely accounts for domestic supply of LPG in the country has for about one month been unable to bring in its vessels which is loaded with gas, but has been trapped around Bonny Island due to the blockade by NIMASA against the operation of the company as a result of dispute on levies and charges which NLNG allegedly owed to NIMASA.
In an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily last week, former National President of the LPG Gas Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Auwalu Ilu stated that the bad blood between both organizations has effectively stalled the supply of the cooking gas to the domestic market.
Our correspondent gathered that NLNG usually load 150,000 Metric Tonnes of LPG in vessels yearly from its Bonny Island plant in Rivers State to Lagos, where about 10 companies appointed as off-takers lift the product in vessels and sell into the local market.
Ilu however confirmed to our correspondent last week that the Club of off-takers who normally receive the LPG from NLNG vessels in Lagos has ran out of stock and that there is no reserve for the product due to the epileptic nature of the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries in the country.
“There is no gas available now because the major supply source is the Nigeria NLNG and since this incident happened there has been scarcity of gas in Nigeria, and unfortunately the refineries are not working”, he lamented.
“Why would you have reserve?, the reserve has finished because the issue has been running for over two weeks now, even if you have a reserve it would have finished now” Ilu stated.
Giving an insight into the price of the stock in the market, Ilu who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Gas Limited stated that presently, a 12.5 kg cylinder is being sold for N3, 500, which under normal circumstances goes for N2, 600 or N2, 800.
He pointed out that the NLNG vessel is already loaded with gas but that it cannot leave Bonny because of the blockage.
Some of the LPG operators who spoke with Shipping Position Daily last week also confirmed that the recent strike embarked upon by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) further added to the problem of scarcity as the only company with the stock; NIPCO Plc could not load out LPG to marketers.
One of them operating around Ikotun Egbe, a sub-urban Lagos, Mr. Ayo Owolabi spoke with our correspondent and lamented that many gas refilling plants have ran out of stock and that the remaining product with the operators are being rationed.
“When we went to refill, they told us that the NUPENG are on strike and that they cannot load gas for us because they are also a member of the NUPENG union, I was still there two days ago and they told me that they no longer have gas”.
“In Nigeria we are fond of taking advantage of a little situation, just because of the little development of the past two weeks the price of gas has gone high” he said.
Mr. Owolabi also stated that a 2.5kg of LPG is now being refilled for as high as N3, 400 to N3, 600.
“Customers are already lamenting the price but we as business men know how to strategize in order not to lose them completely” he said.
Also confirming the biting scarcity last week, newly-elected President of the Nigerian LP Gas Association, Mr. Basil Ogbuanu stated that “None of the off-takers has gas and 90 per cent of gas plant owners in this country have no gas because NLNG vessels are no longer bringing the product to Lagos. LPG is supposed to be for everybody in this country because Nigeria has abundant gas resources. The Nigerian masses should not be made to suffer because two government agencies refused to agree. We are calling on the federal government to settle the matter for the sake of the Nigerian masses,”
And while also confirming the soaring price of LPG, Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA), the President Mr Dayo Adeshina, appealed to the Federal Government to find a quick solution to the impasse, in the interest of the nation.
He said the scarcity of cooking gas in recent times was embarrassing and did not portray the nation’s resolve to grow its consumption.
Adeshina predicted that if the NIMASA/NLNG rift is not resolved by today (Monday), there will be no stock of Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
Adeshina also said that the dispute was already causing some ripple effects on upstream activities in the sector, as operators were shutting down their wells.
He said that the shutting down of wells represented a huge revenue loss to government and the operators, as well as a major problem to the teeming Nigerians using cooking gas.
Adeshina wondered why NIMASA continued to detain “GAZ PROVIDENCE’’, a vessel which discharged 9,000 tonnes of cooking gas for domestic consumption.
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