Cooking Gas Hits ₦17,500 as Strike, Dangote Supply Delay Trigger Fresh Price Surge
- Cooking gas dealers have increased the product’s price by 34.6% in just a week, from $12,750
- The latest price hike is caused by supply challenges triggered by industrial action and delayed distribution
- Dealers said that they adjusted their prices upwards because they don’t know when Dangote Refinery will resume sales
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Pascal Oparada, a reporter for Legit.ng, has over ten years of experience covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy.
The cost of refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly referred to as cooking gas, has skyrocketed across Nigeria.
Prices surged by 34.6% in just one week, rising from ₦12,750 to ₦17,500, as supply bottlenecks triggered by industrial action and delayed distribution disrupted the market.
Source: Getty Images
Checks across major cities revealed that the retail price of 1kg of LPG now ranges between ₦1,350 and ₦1,500 depending on location, placing additional financial pressure on households already grappling with high food and transport costs.
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PENGASSAN strike disrupts LPG supply
The latest hike is linked directly to the strike action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which shut down key gas facilities in the South-West and disrupted supply chains.
According to a report by Vanguard, Olatunbosun Oladapo, President of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), explained that the strike triggered an immediate supply shortfall.
“Gas is a business of demand and supply,” he said.
“When supply is restricted, demand automatically pushes prices higher. As soon as PENGASSAN embarked on strike, all gas plants were shut down, leaving marketers with limited or no stock.”
Dangote’s role and supply delays
Beyond the strike, delays from the Dangote Refinery, which has positioned itself as a major supplier of cooking gas, worsened the crisis.
Marketers allege that Dangote has withheld loading invoices for over three weeks, forcing them to turn to competitors who charge significantly higher prices.
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According to Oladapo, “Our members have pending products with Dangote, but no release has been made. This has left many marketers stranded.
Competitors raised prices as supply tightened due to the shortage and increased their prices, and since no marketer wants to keep an empty plant, they had no choice but to buy at the inflated rates.”
Marketers appeal for intervention
The marketers’ association has appealed to Dangote to speed up distribution to ease the pressure on consumers and stabilise the market.
“If Dangote can truck out more product to marketers, supply will improve, and we expect the price to drop in the coming weeks,” Oladapo added.
However, until these supply challenges are resolved, consumers will continue to bear the brunt of higher LPG prices.
For many households, the soaring cost of cooking gas may force a shift back to firewood and charcoal, raising concerns about deforestation and health risks.
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Nigerians caught in the middle
The cooking gas crisis reflects a broader problem within Nigeria’s energy sector: frequent disruptions in supply and a heavy reliance on a few players. With the strike ongoing and Dangote’s delays unresolved, the immediate outlook remains uncertain.
Source: Getty Images
For now, Nigerians are left adjusting their household budgets, cutting back on other essentials, or turning to cheaper, less healthy cooking alternatives — a painful reminder of how industrial disputes and market inefficiencies directly affect everyday lives.
10 cheapest states to refill cooking gas
Legit.ng earlier reported that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released new data showing a drop in the average retail price of cooking gas across Nigeria in August 2025.
The report revealed that the average price for refilling both 5kg and 12.5kg cylinders of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, decreased month-on-month, though year-on-year trends showed mixed outcomes.
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The average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of LPG fell by 22.32% month-on-month, from N8,243.79 in July 2025 to N6,404.02 in August 2025. On a year-on-year basis, the price declined slightly by 0.40%, compared to N6,430.02 in August 2024.
Source: Legit.ng
