Just as the market is starting to adjust to the recently increased petrol and gas prices, the cost of kerosene, which is used by many families, has increased to N800 per litre.
According to a market survey conducted by The PUNCH on Tuesday, one litre of cooking kerosene, which cost N700 last week, is now available for between N800 and N850 in urban areas of Lagos State while reaching as high as N1000 per litre at filling stations in the suburbs.
Currently, the cost of a litre of cooking kerosene in Ghana is GHS 12.044 (N585).
Unlike petrol, kerosene is a deregulated product- meaning prices are determined by market forces.
“It’s a deregulated market. It is also a function of the dollar to naira rate and the crude price at the international market. Since cooking kerosene is deregulated, prices can go up, it can also come down,” National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi told The PUNCH.
As of June, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, had reported an 88 per cent rise in prices of cooking kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas within in 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.
In addition, the South-East 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, while speaking in an exclusive chat with our correspondent, 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 in an interview that the reason behind the continuous rise in prices of cooking kerosene was the exchange rate.
“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,” he said.
The Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Clement Isong, could not be reached for his comment on the matter as at the time of filing this report.
