Prohibitive Prices: FG Orders Security Agencies To Crack Down On Hoarding, Diversion Of Cooking Gas
By Olumuyiwa Olumuyiwa
The federal government has opted for drastic measures in its bid to regulate the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas following the prohibitive prices at which the commodity is sold at dispensing outlets across the country.
This is as the Federal Government ordered security agencies and regulators to crack down on hoarding, illegal diversion and speculative storage of the product.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), disclosed this move during an emergency stakeholders’ meeting that was held in Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Ekpo said the Department of State Services (DSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Police Force would be involved in tackling practices contributing to higher prices.
As part of measures to be implemented to achieve the government’s goal, Ekpo directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to intensify market surveillance and work with security agencies to eliminate artificial scarcity, discourage hoarding and improve transparency in product distribution and pricing.
According to Ekpo, marketers had expressed willingness to increase imports where necessary, while new domestic supplies, including from the Seplat gas facility, would boost availability in the coming weeks.
“We are also exploring a local blending initiative with Nigeria LNG Limited, local producers, and the Port Harcourt plant operator to move locally produced LPG closer to the market, reduce import pressure and logistics costs, improve reliability, and support more stable pricing,” the minister said.
“Marketers and importers (must) bring in additional volumes where required, share arrival and discharge timelines, price responsibly, and avoid withholding product for speculative gain (while) transporters and logistics operators (must) increase truck availability, clear delivery bottlenecks, keep haulage costs transparent, and move product quickly to areas of high demand.”
He added that retailers should display prices clearly, avoid arbitrary increases and promptly report supply disruptions.
In his own presentation at the event, Rabiu Umar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said LPG wholesalers and retailers are charging non-cost reflective prices, pushing cooking gas prices to as high as N2,100 per kilogramme despite significantly lower indicative prices issued by the regulator.
Umar identified marketer profiteering and distribution bottlenecks as some of the reasons why consumers across the country are paying far above the regulator’s indicative pricing benchmarks.
He noted that cooking gas sells for between N1,600/kg and N2,100/kg in the south-west despite an indicative price range of N1,018/kg to N1,177/kg.
He added that in the north-central, LPG prices range from N1,550/kg to N1,950/kg against an indicative benchmark of N1,066/kg to N1,224/kg, while consumers in the south-south pay between N1,400/kg and N2,000/kg compared with an official guide of N1,021/kg to N1,179/kg.
The NMDPRA attributed the price disparity to non-cost-reflective pricing and distribution challenges, while warning that domestic LPG supply is being constrained by exports.
It said Chevron Nigeria Limited produced 148,222 metric tonnes of LPG between January and May 2026 and exported the entire volume, accounting for 22.93 percent of national output.
The regulator said it would engage the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the ministry of petroleum resources to secure more LPG for the domestic market.
According to the report breakdown the NLNG was the largest producer during the period with 187,559 metric tonnes or 29.01 percent, followed by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery with 105,127 metric tonnes or 16.26 percent.
