Strong indications are beginning to suggest that Nigerians are losing courage in switching from kerosene and fuelwood based cooking methods to gas following rising cost of filling all grades of cylinders.
Currently, the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly known as cooking gas, sold to marketers in the country has risen by over 20 per cent in the past one month, with consumers paying more for the product. The naira plunged on November 30 to 500 per dollar at the parallel market, its lowest level in more than three years, from around N462/$1 at the start of the month. It traded at 476 against the greenback on Tuesday.
Fact-check showed that terminal operators and importers increased the price of 20 metric tonnes of LPG to N5.3m on Monday from an average of N4.4m a month ago. A gas plant in Lagos visited by our correspondent refilled a 12.5kg cylinder for LPG for N4,000 on Tuesday, up from N3,200 in November. Our correspondent gathered that the plant had refilled a 12.5kg cylinder for N3,500 on Monday. Some of the retail shops visited by our correspondent put the price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder at between N4,000 and N4,500 on Tuesday. Marketers said the price of cooking gas had continued to increase in recent months as the depreciation of the naira against the dollar and increased global demand pushed up the cost of importing the product.
