Nigeria Convenes Emergency Meeting on LPG Prices, Invites Security Agencies to Combat Market Abuses

Nigeria's federal government has convened an emergency meeting with stakeholders to tackle the escalating price of cooking gas. Key security agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigeria Police Force, will be involved in combating product diversion, hoarding, and speculative storage practices blamed for the price surge.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stated the government's commitment to ensuring moderate cooking gas prices and enhancing access to cleaner energy for households. He emphasized that Nigeria's gas resources must prioritize domestic consumers. The intervention aims to bring sanity back to the sector.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is also implementing measures to address a projected supply shortfall of approximately 165,000 metric tonnes in the third quarter of 2026. The authority has warned operators against violating domestic gas supply obligations amidst concerns over availability and affordability.

Ekpo highlighted that improved supply alone is insufficient without efficient distribution and responsible market conduct. He identified bottlenecks, hoarding, speculative storage, allocation inefficiencies, logistics constraints, and pricing distortions as major obstacles to market stability. The NMDPRA has been directed to intensify market surveillance and collaborate with security agencies to eliminate artificial scarcity and ensure transparency in product distribution and pricing.

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Security agencies (DG DSS, Chairman EFCC, IG Nigerian Police Force: (will) support regulators in preventing diversion, hoarding, illegal storage, and disruption of legitimate supply movement along key LPG corridors