The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (gas), Hon Ekperikpe Ekpo has disclosed there will be no export of Liquefied Petroleum gas (cookinggas) until local demand has been met.

The Minister who disclosed this at a workshop in Abuja on Thursday said the government was working to improve supply to the domestic market.

Government’s intervention came as the price of cookinggas rose by over 20 percent this week from N1,030 per kilogram to N1,240/kg.

Despite the declaration of the decade of gas and the government’s push to make gas a transition fuel, low production and rising prices have continued to push Nigerians away from the use of LPG.

Ekpo said: “You have seen the demonstration by the federal government by withdrawing all taxes and levies from importation of gas related equipment. It is a big incentive on the issue. of LPG.

“We are interacting with the 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’m in contact with the regulator, NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority), we have meetings almost on a daily basis, and the producers of the gas like Mobil, Chevron and Shell. So there is that hope that things will turn around.

Questioned on why the removal of taxes was not reflecting on lower prices he said: “It is not going to reflect that way. We are dealing with human beings. The policy has been put in place and the investors want to maximise the profits that they are going to get from it all. At the end of the day we have to come in. That is why you have the regulator and we are interfacing with them to make sure they crash the price”, he added.