The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has blamed the recent rise in cooking gas prices on a temporary disruption caused by the strike of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, said this while addressing State House correspondents on Sunday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Ojulari explained that the industrial action, which halted loading and distribution for a few days, led to what he called an “artificial” increase in prices.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because during the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two or three days. Because of that, you see that impact. As things return to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored,” he said.
The strike, which began over the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery, was suspended on October 1 after the intervention of the federal government.
Ojulari accused some retailers of taking advantage of the shortfall to raise prices, saying, “As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of those with existing stock increased their prices.”
He, however, assured that as supply stabilises, gas prices will soon return to their previous levels.
“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” he said.
Ojulari added that the Dangote Group’s decision to redeploy the affected workers and resume full operations has started easing supply challenges.
