Presidency, NMDPRA, others set to bring down price of cooking gas before December

Solomon Ezeme

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, Monday at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), disclosed the Federal Government’s plan to reduce the price of cooking gas in the nation to ease the pain of Nigerians as they prepare for the forthcoming festive period.

Slyva stated this at a media briefing after a meeting at the State House, on Tuesday, with the President; the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; the CEO of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed and the CEO of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe.

He said that the Government was aware of the plight of Nigerians regarding the spike in gas price and was doing everything within power to help reduce the price as Christmas approaches.

“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.”

The Minister, however, explained that the Government would look out for means to cut down its price of cooking gas but will not subsidize the commodity as it is already deregulated.

He noted that the Government will allow market forces determine prices as the price of gas is known to be dictated by the global market.

“We must understand that cooking gas is not subsidised. It is already a deregulated commodity.

“So, the price of cooking gas is not determined by government or by anybody 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 crisis in Europe relating to gas prices.

“So, the pricing of gas internationally affects also the price of gas in the country,” Sylva said.