The Group Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has attributed the recent cooking gas scarcity in Nigeria to disruptions caused by the PENGASSAN strike. The industrial action halted operations for several days, resulting in an “artificial” price increase.

In Lagos, cooking gas prices have surged to between ₦2,500 and ₦3,000 per kilogram, with many filling stations and gas plants out of stock. Only street vendors remain, selling limited supplies at inflated rates. The PENGASSAN strike began over the dismissal of Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery but was suspended on October 1 after Federal Government intervention.

“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because, for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” Ojulari told State House correspondents on Sunday, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

“And because of that, you see that impact. As things return to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored,” he added.

The NNPCL boss also berated opportunistic retailers for exploiting the shortfall to hike prices, assuring Nigerians that as supply chains stabilise, the cooking gas price is expected to ease in the coming weeks.

“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. My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” the NNPCL CEO stated.