Yemi Obafemi
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has attributed the recent surge in the price of cooking gas to the temporary strike action embarked upon by members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
PENGASSAN had commenced an industrial action to protest the dismissal of Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery but suspended the strike on October 1 following the intervention of the Federal Government.
Speaking to State House correspondents on Sunday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, explained that the strike disrupted operations and supply for a few days, leading to the artificial increase in prices.
“The increase you saw was relatively artificial because, during the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two to three days,” Ojulari said.
He added that while distribution was affected during the period, normalcy was gradually returning to the market.
“As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored,” he noted.
Ojulari further observed that some marketers took advantage of the temporary disruption to inflate prices.
“In Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people who had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price,” he said.
The NNPCL boss, however, expressed optimism that prices would soon stabilize, saying, “My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike.”
