The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has blamed the recent scarcity and surge in the price of cooking gas on the temporary halt in operations caused by the strike action of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Ojulari disclosed this while addressing State House correspondents on Sunday after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja. He explained that the industrial action led to a temporary disruption in the loading and distribution of cooking gas nationwide, creating what he described as an “artificial” price hike.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because, during the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two or three days,” Ojulari said. “And because of that, you saw that impact. As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.”
The NNPCL boss further noted that some retailers took advantage of the situation to inflate prices, worsening the effect on consumers. “As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people who had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price,” he added.
Ojulari, however, assured Nigerians that with the resumption of normal operations and supply stabilization, the cost of cooking gas would gradually return to its pre-strike levels.
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” he stated.
The recent strike by PENGASSAN, which lasted several days, had caused disruptions in petroleum product loading and distribution nationwide, leading to scarcity and inflated market prices.