The Federal Government has reacted to the rise in price of cooking gas, which has more than doubled in the last one year, saying that it has no control over its price because the product is fully deregulated in the country.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who made the declaration on Tuesday in a chat with correspondents, however, noted that President Muhammadu Buhari is worried about the hike in the price of the product.
Sylva was at the presidential villa, Abuja to introduce the CEO, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Engr. Faruk Ahmed and the CEO, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe to the President.
He noted that gas prices are determined by the global market, even though he indicated that government will do everything possible to bring down the price, especially during the Yuletide season.
He said, “We must understand that cooking gas is not subsidized. It is already a deregulated commodity. So the price of cooking gas is not determined by the government or by everybody in the industry. In fact, gas prices are determined internationally.
“And you all are aware that in Europe, today, gas prices have gone up. There was even a crisis in Europe relating to gas prices. So the pricing of gas internationally now affects also the price of gas in the country.
“Apart from that, there are some issues around VAT charges on imported gas, and of course, taxes on imported gas, which we are handling. But of course, quite frankly, these taxes on imported gas, you must also juxtapose it side by side with the local producers of gas.
“So, if you incentivize the importance too much, then you will also kill the local industry. And also, you don’t want to incentivize the local industry at the expense of the imports, because if incentivize the local industry at the expense of the imports, then you will not have enough gas produced within the country.
“So, these are the issues of balancing that the midstream and downstream regulatory authority are handling and I want to assure you that we are quite concerned.
“Mr. President also is very concerned. He is aware that the price of gas is high in the market, and we’re doing everything trying to see how we can bring down the price of gas especially as we approached the Yuletide.”
