Nigerians may face even more hardship in the coming days with the recent hike in the price of kerosene which now sells for over N800 naira, National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi, told newsmen during an interview.
Already there are lamentations about the newly increased petrol and gas prices, Naija News reports.
Before now, a litre of cooking kerosene is being sold at the market for N700.
A recent survey, however, revealed that the deregulated product now sells for between N800 and N850 in urban parts of Lagos State.
The price of Kerosene is usually determined by market forces. Demand for kerosene increased lately following the surge in cooking gas price, hence after a while the price per litre for kerosene also increased and findings revealed that some filling stations are now selling even at a higher price.
Reports revealed that the price of a litre of cooking kerosene currently sells for GHS 12.044 (N585) per litre in Ghana.
“It’s a deregulated market. It is also a function of the dollar to naira rate and the crude price in the international market. Since cooking kerosene is deregulated, prices can go up, it can also come down,” Osatuyi told reporters during an interview earlier.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in June reported an 88 per cent rise in prices of cooking kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas within one year.
According to the NBS report on “National Household Kerosene Price Watch,” the price of cooking kerosene went up by 86.94 per cent in one year.
The report also said that the average retail price per litre of household kerosene, HHK, paid by consumers in May 2022 increased by 15.21 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N589.82 in April 2022 to N679.54 in May 2022.
The state profile analysis showed that the highest average price per litre in May 2022 was recorded in Enugu with N868.75, followed by Ebonyi with N861.11 and Imo with N801.67. On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Bayelsa with N558.06, followed by Yobe with N601.39, and Nasarawa with N603.33.
The South-East according to the report recorded the highest average retail price per litre of household kerosene with N773.09, followed by the South-West with N738.19, and the North-Central with N668.78, while the North-East reported the lowest with N632.06.
An energy expert, Bala Zakka during an interview attributed the sharp increase in the price of the products to Nigeria’s continued inability to refine petroleum products for local consumption.
Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers’ Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, Olufemi Adewole, told The PUNCH that the reason behind the continuous rise in prices of cooking kerosene was the exchange rate.
He said: “Cooking kerosene is deregulated so prices depend on foreign exchange. A dollar is now N700 from N600 just last month, so prices will surely increase.”
