FG to tackle rising cost of cooking gas, blames FX spikes

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would reduce the rising cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.

The minister gave this assurance, yesterday, during the flag-off of the distribution of gas cylinders to about 300 women by the Decade of Gas Initiative in Lagos State.

Ekpo stressed that he would bring in the regulators and gas producers to find ways to bring down the cost.

He said: “I got that information this morning that the price of cooking gas is rising again. So, I will invite the regulators and producers for a meeting. We will make cooking gas affordable.

“Energy security that we are talking about is about affordability and availability. So, we would ensure that whatever is the reason behind the hike in price will be addressed.”

Ekpo maintained that the distribution of cylinders is part of the government’s initiative to give one million homes access to clean cooking by 2030.

Similarly, the Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Orelope Adefulure, assured the women that the SDG would partner with the Decade of Gas Initiative to distribute more cylinders across the local councils in Lagos. The Coordinator of the Decade of Gas Secretariat, Ed Ebong, said that 250,000 cylinders would be distributed yearly till 2030.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Asiko Energy and Gas Terminalling, Felix Ekundayo, yesterday, during a Morning Show programme on Arise News, mentioned that one of the reasons for the rise in the cost of cooking gas is the change in foreign exchange (FX) rate, as all products are dollar index.

He added that the recent rise in international pricing also affects locally, mentioning that the rise is of great concern to the country.