12.5kg cooking gas price drops 7.61% upon slash on international market
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
After months of moaning by the chattering middle classes, the price of 12.5kg cylinder refill of cooking gas slashed 7.61 per cent month-on-month (MoM) from N10, 323.33 in April to N9, 537.89 in May.
Marketers attributed the decline to a drop in the price of gas on the international market.
According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the current price of natural gas dropped 76.1 per cent from 8.78 per one million dollars British Thermal Units (BTU) to 2.10 per one million dollars BTU on May 31.
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Highest, lowest prices by state
The latest official price of cooking gas in Nigeria was announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) but a market survey by Vanguard speaks of a further 18.7 per cent decline from N9, 537.89 in May to N7,750 in June.
However, the average retail price of cooking gas increased 9.30 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from N8, 726.30 in May 2022 to N9, 537.89 in May 2023.
On a MoM basis, the NBS said, the price of 5kg of cooking gas reduced 6.07 per cent from N4,642.27 in April to N4,360.69 in May.
Cross River notched the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder with N11,083.33, followed by Jigawa (N10,975.00), and Akwa Ibom (N10,174.29).
Adamawa had the lowest price (N7, 925.00), followed by Zamfara (N8,128.57), and Borno (N8,200.00).
12.5kg cooking gas refill now costs N11,000
Consumers had continued to pay more for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, with the national average price reaching N11,000 per 12.5kg cylinder refill in March, according to data from the NBS.
The NBS in its Liquefied Petroleum Gas Price Watch report said the average price was highest in Jigawa at N11,687 in March, followed by Akwa Ibom (N10,880.20), and Cross River (N10,810.65) per refill.
The lowest price was in Ebonyi (N9,500), trailed by Yobe (N9,600), and Gombe (N9,766.67).
Regional price variations
The NBS said the North Central had an average price of N10,192.43 in March, North West (N10,435.35), North East (N9,808.50), South East (N10,271.07), South West (N10,344.59), and South South (N10,507.72).
According to the data, the average price jumped 0.09 per cent MoM nationally from N10,253.39 in February to N10,262.56 in March.
It rose 34.72 per cent YoY from N7,617.71 in March 2022.