The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, says the recent surge in cooking gas prices was triggered by temporary supply disruptions during the strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Speaking to State House correspondents on Sunday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Ojulari described the spike as “relatively artificial,” noting that operations were stalled for several days due to the industrial action.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” he explained. “As things return to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.”
Ojulari added that some marketers exploited the brief shortage to inflate prices. “As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunities. With that delay, some of the people who had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price,” he said.
The PENGASSAN strike, which began over the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery, was suspended on October 1 after federal government intervention.
Ojulari assured consumers that with operations resuming and the Dangote Group redeploying affected staff, supply is stabilising and prices should soon return to pre-strike levels.
