By Damilare Adeleye
In an effort to reduce its scarcity and soaring price in the country, the federal government has announced stoppage of exportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as cooking gas.
Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, made this known at the “Internal Stakeholders’ Workshop,” in Abuja on Thursday.
The theme of the workshop is “Harnessing Nigeria’s Proven Gas Reserves for Economic Growth and Development.”
When asked what the government has done to control the rising cost of domestic gas, he said, the ministry is discussing constantly with critical stakeholders like the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and operators such as Mobil, Chevron, and Shell to address the issue.
He explained that once there is a stoppage of the export of locally produced domestic gas, there will be more volume for the domestic market which will automatically reduce the price of the product.
“We are interacting with critical stakeholders to ensure that there is no exportation of LPG.
“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.
“I am in contact with the regulation, NMDPRA, we hold meetings almost on daily basis, and the producers such as Mobil, Chevron, and Shell. So there is that hope that things will turn around. We don’t need to make noise about it,” he said.