Nigerians may be facing another wave of cooking gas scarcity as retailers warn that supplies of Liquefied Petroleum Gas are thinning once again. The alarm comes barely weeks after consumers began recovering from the last round of shortages that sent gas prices skyrocketing.
Retailers told The PUNCH that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery had become the only major supplier of LPG to the local market, sparking concerns that any disruption in its operations could trigger another nationwide shortage.
In Abeokuta, Ogun State, a retailer, who simply identified himself as Adesola, lamented the uncertainty surrounding gas availability, saying, “There is no major improvement in LPG supplies. We don’t know what will happen in the next few days or weeks.”
Across different parts of the country, the price of cooking gas now ranges between N1,200 and N1,500 per kilogram, depending on the location. This marks a steep increase from around N900/kg before the recent industrial dispute between the Dangote Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria disrupted supply.
The National Chairman of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Ayobami Olarinoye, confirmed that the current supply from the Dangote Refinery alone could not meet domestic consumption needs.
“As we speak, only the Dangote Refinery is selling the product. While we acknowledge that Dangote is pushing gas into the market, the current production level cannot satisfy local demand,” Olarinoye said.
He explained that most depots across the country had exhausted their stock, creating a widening supply gap. The imbalance, he said, had discouraged other marketers from importing gas due to price disparities between Dangote’s refinery output and the rates charged by middlemen.
“Most depot owners do not have gas in stock to complement Dangote’s supply,” Olarinoye added. “There is a need to address the price gap that’s preventing other players from bringing products into the local market for normalcy to return.”
According to Olarinoye, LPG prices dropped slightly in October after the resolution of the PENGASSAN dispute, falling from ₦2,000/kg to about ₦1,400/kg, but they have since refused to return to pre-crisis levels of below ₦1,000/kg.
He warned that prices could spike again if the refinery temporarily halts production for maintenance. “It may, it may not. If Dangote does not go on maintenance that halts production, we’ll keep working within the current range,” he said.
Recent data from Petroleumprice.ng revealed that Dangote’s LPG price rose to ₦955/kg on Monday, higher than 11PLC and Navgas, which sold at ₦920/kg.
Officials at the Dangote Refinery have dismissed allegations of overpricing, insisting that retail prices are beyond the company’s control.
“Marketers pick up LPG from us at ₦715,000 per metric tonne — that’s ₦715/kg,” an official at the refinery, who spoke to our correspondent in confidence due to the lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.
“We don’t control retail prices. The Petroleum Industry Act and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority determine price regulation. If retailers sell at ₦2,000/kg after buying at ₦715/kg, there’s nothing we can do.”
Last month, Olarinoye also revealed that Dangote sold LPG at ₦15.8m per 20,000 metric tonnes to off-takers, who resold the same volume between ₦18.4 million and ₦18.5 million, widening the margin for retailers and consumers.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, recently intervened in the ongoing supply crisis, vowing to clamp down on marketers hoarding gas or exploiting consumers through excessive markups.
The minister’s intervention follows weeks of public frustration after gas prices doubled nationwide despite the suspension of the PENGASSAN strike.
Industry analysts say Nigeria’s dependence on a single local supplier poses a significant risk to energy stability. They warned that without adequate diversification and policy support to attract more players into the LPG market, the country could face periodic shortages that continue to burden households and small businesses.
For now, consumers are bracing for uncertainty — and possibly another round of price increases — as supply remains tight and the market anxiously watches the next move of the Dangote Refinery.
