Nigeria: Press spotlights crash of cooking gas due to export ban of gas, others

The ban on the export of cooking gas (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) has led to a crash in the cost of the commodity from about N1,500 per kilogram to around N900/kg, according to LPG dealers is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government’s ban on the export of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, has led to a crash in the cost of the commodity from about N1,500 per kilogram to around N900/kg, LPG dealers stated on Wednesday.
Cooking gas dealers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers disclosed this during a courtesy visit on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, in Abuja.
On February 22, 2024, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government banned the exportation of LPG in a bid to increase its volume domestically to warrant a crash in price.
It stated at the time that LPG producers in Nigeria and key stakeholders in the industry had been told to stop exporting the commodity out of Nigeria, following the jump in the cost of cooking gas.
Speaking at the meeting with the gas minister on Wednesday in Abuja, the National President, NALPGAM, Oladapo Olatunbosun, commended Ekpo for the courage in ordering the domestication of all LPG produced within the country, stressing that the policy resulted in the reduction and stabilisation of the product’s price in the domestic market.
Olatunbosun, in a statement issued by the minister’s media aide, Louis Ibah, recalled that during a stakeholders consultative forum in Abuja in February this year, the association had drawn the minister’s attention to the fact that some international oil companies operating in Nigeria had been exporting huge volumes of gas.
The newspaper says that the International financiers that are meant to fund the construction of about 20 modular refineries in Nigeria have withheld their funds due to the challenge of getting guarantees for crude oil supply to the facilities when they are completed.
Producers of crude oil in Nigeria, who are largely international oil companies, have not been able to provide guarantees to assure the financiers that crude would be supplied to the modular refineries when the plants are set to produce refined petroleum products.
Based on this, funders of the facilities have held onto their funds pending when the Federal Government would be able to impress it on IOCs to provide the guarantees required for crude oil supply to modular refiners.
Although Nigeria prides itself as the largest crude oil producer in Africa, it exports bulk of its crude to earn foreign exchange, starving domestic refiners who find it tough to source the United States dollar required for the purchase crude.
Nigeria currently has 25 licensed modular refineries. Five of them are operating and producing diesel, kerosene, black oil and naphtha. About 10 are under various stages of completion, while the others have received licences to establish.
Operators of modular refineries told our correspondent that aside from the five that are in operation currently, the remaining plants are embattled due to the major challenge of crude oil unavailability, a development that has stalled funding from financiers.
“Only about five of our members have completed their refineries. The others are having a major challenge. This challenge is that the people who are supposed to finance them have not disbursed financing for construction because they want some level of guarantee,” they said.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that more than one in four children under the age of five globally live in “severe” food poverty, UNICEF has warned — meaning more than 180 million are at risk of experiencing adverse impacts on their growth and development.
“Severe child food poverty describes children who are surviving on severely deprived diets so they’re only consuming two or less food groups,” Harriet Torlesse, a lead writer of a new UNICEF report published late Wednesday, told AFP.
“It is shocking in this day and age where we know what needs to be done.” UNICEF recommends that young children eat foods daily from five of eight main groups — breast milk; grains, roots, tubers and plantains; pulses, nuts and seeds; dairy; meat, poultry and fish; eggs; vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables; and other fruits and vegetables.
But 440 million children under the age of five living in about 100 low- and middle-income countries are living in food poverty, meaning they do not have access to five food groups each day.
Of those, 181 million are experiencing severe food poverty, eating from at most two food groups.
“Children who consume just two food groups per day — for example, rice and some milk — are up to 50 percent more likely to experience severe forms of malnutrition,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement accompanying the report.
That malnutrition can lead to emaciation, a state of being abnormally thin that can be fatal.
And even if these children survive and grow up, “they certainly don’t thrive. So they do less well at school,” Torlesse explained.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s current account balance has experienced a surplus of $1.432bn in 2024, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The report, ‘World Economic Outlook Database’ seen by Channels Television on Wednesday, noted that the increase in the Federal Government’s account for the period was an improvement from the $1.21bn surplus recorded in 2023.
The improvement was attributed to the country’s growing gross national savings and investment.
In 2024, Nigeria’s gross national savings increased to 26.32 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, up from 24.61 per cent in 2023. Total investment also rose to 25.75 per cent of GDP in 2024, compared to 24.28 per cent in 2023, according to the report.
A country’s current account balance represents the combined total of its trade balance, net income, direct transfers, and asset income, providing a comprehensive picture of its international economic transactions.
It reflects the balance between exports and imports, income earned and paid, and asset increases or decreases.
A positive balance indicates a net lending position, while a negative balance indicates a net borrowing position.
The IMF data provides a positive outlook for Nigeria’s economic growth and stability, indicating a growing economy with increasing investment and savings. This trend is expected to continue, driving economic growth and stability in the region.
GIK/APA