The reasons behind the hike in prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG also known as cooking gas has been revealed.

Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria PETROAN attributed the hike to international market prices, activities of middle and political factors.

Rivers State Chairman of the PETROAN, Francis Dimkpa in an interview in Port Harcourt on Monday said LPG is traded at the international price in Nigeria, despite the fact that Nigeria produces part of the LPG consumed in the country.

Dimkpa disclosed that some gas plants operators do not have access to LPG from Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, thereby hiking the prices.

In his word “it very painful and difficult to understand how a country like ours that is producing LPG otherwise known as cooking gas is going through such a hike in the price of domestic gas like this”.

“But I think that it is connected with the international price of LPG. I do not know whether it is clear to all of us that LPG in this country is not traded at the domestic price, it is traded at the international price. Most times NLNG carries this product to Lagos before even coming to Port Harcourt”.

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“We also import LGP to an extent. The business of LPG is shrouded in a lot of diplomatic and political issues where registered LPG plants do not have, so to say direct access to buy from NLNG. There are a lot of political off-takers in place, making the price of LPG secondary before it gets to the primary consumers”.

Dimkpa also called on the government to step in and regularize the price of LPG, adding that retail outlets owners are willing to buy products directly from NLNG.