The price of kerosene soars by 118%, fuels anxiety

Home kerosene may be out of reach for poor Nigerians as the price of this commodity has risen 118% in the last 12 months.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics National Household Kerosene Report for September, the average retail price per liter of the product increased by 118% to N947 from N434 recorded in September 2021 .

According to the report, the average retail price per liter of HHK paid by consumers in September 2022 was N947, indicating a 17% increase from the N809 recorded in August 2022 .

A breakdown of the report showed that on the state profile analysis, the highest average price per liter in September 2022 was recorded in Enugu with N1,272, followed by Ebonyi with N1,264 and from Cross River with N1,186.

In contrast, the lowest price was recorded in Rivers with N686, followed by Bayelsa with N715 and Nasarawa with N735.

Furthermore, the analysis by area showed that the South East recorded the highest average retail price of the product with N1,128, followed by the South West with N1,068, while the North-West recorded the lowest with N869.

The average retail price per gallon of products paid by consumers in September 2022 was 3,236 Naira, an increase of 10% from 2,948 Naira in August 2022. on the other on a basis, it increased by 110% from 1,541 naira in September 2021.

On the state profile analysis, Abuja recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of cooking kerosene at N4,200, followed by Abia at N4,078 and from Enugu with 4,052 N, according to the report.< /p>

In contrast, Borno recorded the lowest price with N2,500, followed by Zamfara and Delta with N2,555 and N2,577, respectively.

Analysis by area showed that the South East recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of the product at N3,607, followed by the South West at N3,468, while that the North East recorded the lowest with N2,804.

In July, a gallon of cooking kerosene was sold for N790, an increase of 3.68% from the N761.69 recorded in June.

The state-owned oil company, Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, recently halted the importation of the product, leading to continued price hikes by independent traders.

Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, said more than 70% of Nigeria's more than 200 million people do not have access to clean cooking fuels. The price of cooking gas has also skyrocketed.

The National Chairman of the Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Distributors Association, Oladapo Olatunbosun, while responding to an exclusive report by The PUNCH, revealed that gas consumption had dropped drastically to 800,000 metric tons per year, from 1,250 million MT per year recorded about four months ago.

According to him, given the huge population of Nigeria, the country should consume at least six million MT per year.

“800,000MT per year is the current consumption rate in Nigeria. A few months ago, we were producing 1,250 million MT per year.

"Normally, given our population in this country, we would consume about six million metric tons per year, just like other African countries like Morocco, Egypt, Algeria , Kenya, South Africa and other countries. But these countries currently consume more LPG than Nigeria despite our huge population,” he told The PUNCH in a phone conversation.

Meanwhile, financial and economic experts have advised the government to intervene in the situation to ameliorate the challenges facing Nigerians.

A former chief executive of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, said government intervention was urgently needed to bring down the costs of the product in the interest of the poor masses.< /p>

He said, “The astronomical increase in the price of cooking kerosene will further aggravate the poverty situation in the country. Household kerosene is not a luxury, it is a necessity. It's bad enough that we are struggling with high food inflation, and now there is an added burden of rising cost of means of cooking food. So for the average Nigerian and the poor, it is an added burden, and obviously the impact on poverty will be very profound.