The Federal Government says it is interacting with the critical sectors to halt the exportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, over its rising cost.

The government said all cooking gas produced in the country would be domesticated to crash the price of gas.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, made this known at the opening of the ministry’s internal stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

The price of cooking gas recently increased to N1,400 as against N950 per kg in January 2024.

Ekpo said: “All LPG produced within the country will have to be domesticated and when this is done the volume will increase and of course, the price will automatically crash.

FG sets up committee to reduce cooking gas price

“I am in contact with the regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and the producers of LPG such as Chevron, Mobile, and Shell; we have meetings on a daily basis.

“There is hope that things will turn around. We do not need to make noise about it and it is based on this that we are having this engagement to find out the problems and address them once and for all.”

On the conversion of vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal, the minister said he has been interfacing with the Presidential Initiative on CNG towards realising the goal.

“The moment I get a clearer picture about it, I will address you accordingly,” he said, adding that the impact on withdrawal of taxes and levies from gas-related equipment would not reflect that way because the investors would like to maximise profit “though the policy has been put in place”.

“But at the end of the day the regulators have to come in and interface with them to ensure they crash the price,” Ekpo said.

According to him, the demonstration by the federal government by withdrawing all taxes and levies from the importation of gas-related equipment is a big incentive.

The Star