On Thursday, February 23, the federal government announced that it has halted the exportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, in a bid to alleviate the scarcity and rising prices of the commodity in the country.

Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, broke the news to reports at the “Internal Stakeholders’ Workshop,” in Abuja.

The theme of the workshop is “Harnessing Nigeria’s Proven Gas Reserves for Economic Growth and Development.”

Asked what the government has done to control the rising cost of domestic gas, he said, the ministry is discussing constantly with critical stakeholders like the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and operators such as Mobil, Chevron, and Shell to address the issue.

He explained that once there is a stoppage of the export of locally produced domestic gas, there will be more volume for the domestic market which will automatically reduce the price of the product.

His words: “We are interacting with critical stakeholders to ensure that there is no exportation of LPG.

“All LPG produced within the country will have to be domesticated. And when this is done, the volume will increase and of course, the price will automatically crash.

“I am in contact with the regulation, NMDPRA, we hold meetings almost on daily basis, and the producers such as Mobil, Chevron, and Shell. So there is that hope that things will turn around. We don’t need to make noise about it.”