The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Bayo Ojulari, has given reasons for the recent increase in cooking gas price across the country.

 

 

 

In a chat with State House correspondence, Ojulari said cooking gas price hike was caused by the temporary disruption of operations during last week’s strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

 

 

 

 

 

He said the industrial action halted loading and distribution for several days, leading to an artificial rise in the price.

 

 

 

“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days. And because of that, you see that impact. As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.”

 

 

 

Ojulari also accused some retailers of taking advantage of the temporary supply disruption to inflate the cooking gas price.

 

 

 

“As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people that had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price,” he said.

 

 

Ojulari assured Nigerians that as supply chains stabilise, the cooking gas price is expected to ease in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” he said.

 

 

 

The rise in cooking gas price followed the industrial action by PENGASSAN over the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery.