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The Group Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has attributed the recent scarcity in cooking gas to a temporary loading and disruption during the strike action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
According to him, the industrial action had halted operations for several days and produced an “artificial” increase in prices.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” Ojulari told State House correspondents on Sunday, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
“And because of that, you see that impact. As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored,” he added.
Ojulari also accused opportunistic retailers of exploiting the shortfall to hike prices.
He, however, assured Nigerians that as supply chains stabilise, the cooking gas price is expected to ease in the coming weeks.
“As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people who had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price.”
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” the NNPCL CEO stated.
Cooking gas prices have skyrocketed across Nigeria, with Lagos residents now paying between ₦2,500 and ₦3,000 per kilogramme, as scarcity grips major cities.
Many residents say several filling stations and gas plants have run out of stock, leaving only street vendors with limited supplies selling at inflated prices.
Oil workers, under the aegis of PENGASSAN began a strike action over the dismissal of Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery but suspended it on October 1 after Federal Government’s intervention.
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