Consumers lament hike in prices of cooking gas, kerosene
Consumers are lamenting the soaring prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) and kerosene at depots across Nigeria in the last one month, investigations spanning Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja show.
The consumers, hard hit by low purchasing power and rising inflation that has brought about soaring prices of goods and services, are currently finding it difficult to cope with the situation.
BusinessDay checks reveal that the price of cooking gas has risen by between 40 and 53 percent in the last one month.
In Lagos metropolis, 50kg cooking gas cylinder rose by over 50 percent to sell for between N18,000 and N20,000 from N16,00,500; 25kg cylinder gas now sells for between N9,000 and N10,000 against between N6,500 and N7,000, while the price range to refill a 12.5kg cylinder shot up to between N4,500 and N5,000 instead of between N3,200 and N3,500, a month ago.
Also, 6kg gas rose to sell for N2,500 from between N1,800 and N2,000, 5kg gas is now N2,000 against N1,500, while the 4.5kg camp gas, which sold for between N800 and N1,000 now sells for N1,200.
“Customers are not buying as much as before because of the price increase. I have no other business so I am managing the situation,” Agu Ogbuji, a gas retailer in Lagos, says.
Olivia Udoh, a user of cooking gas in Lagos, states, “I bought 12.5kg gas sometime in November for N3,200, but few days ago, I bought the same size of gas around a filling station in Mile 12 that dispenses gas for N4,500. How do government expect us to cope with this situation? Some of us have not received salaries in months and prices are going up.”
The story is not any different in Port Harcourt and Abuja as consumers who spoke with BusinessDay confirm that gas price has increased significantly.
Prisca Amadi, another user of cooking gas in Port Harcourt, says, “I filled my 12.5kg gas cylinder for N3,500 in Santiago gas station last month. I was shocked when I went back to the gas station and was told it is now N4,500. I usually alternate with kerosene but now, the price of kerosene has gone up as well.”
A litre of kerosene that sold for N250 is now between N400 and N500 at filling stations, while the same litre goes for as much as between N400 and N450 at other retail outlets. The big Eva bottle of kerosene now sells for between N600 and N700 against N300 a month ago.
‘‘Feeding has become very difficult. Before now, I buy a bottle of kerosene for N230, and it would last for one week but now that same bottle is sold for N500,’’ Yinka Adebiyi, a Lagos resident, says.