Nigeria's Cooking Gas Demand Drops 23% After Iran Conflict Tightens Supply
- Nigeria's cooking gas demand hit a seven-month low in June 2026, with the Iran conflict exposing serious gaps in the country's LPG supply chain
- Domestic LPG production dropped over 20% as Dangote refinery maintenance and reduced gas-plant output compounded the supply crunch
- Ghana and Kenya also felt the strain of tighter global LPG supplies, with Ghana's stocks falling more than three-quarters to critical levels in July
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Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
Nigeria's cooking gas market took a heavy hit between March and June 2026 as the Iran conflict disrupted global liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplies, pushing demand down by nearly 23% to 123,000 tonnes in June, the lowest level recorded in seven months, according to energy intelligence firm Argus.
Argus, citing data from Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said the drop was driven by a combination of weaker domestic output and tighter import conditions at a time when global LPG markets were already under stress from the conflict.
Source: Getty Images
How Nigeria's supply fell apart
Domestic LPG production declined by more than 20% over the period, hit by lower output from inland gas-processing plants and scheduled maintenance at the Dangote refinery's residual fluid catalytic cracker.
To make up the shortfall, Nigerian LPG operators sharply ramped up imports, bringing in 46,000 tonnes in June alone, up from just 3,000 tonnes in May and nothing at all in April.
The situation began to ease after a US-Iran peace deal in June pushed international LPG prices sharply lower. The Argus butane West Africa index dropped more than 40% to $513.50 per tonne on June 24, compared with a March peak of $860.50 per tonne.
That price relief helped Nigeria swing from four straight months of deficit into a 30,000-tonne LPG surplus.
By July, domestic supply had also recovered strongly: output from the Dangote refinery climbed 71% to 25,800 tonnes, while gas-processing plants increased their supply by 88% to 47,000 tonnes.
Nigeria's average retail LPG price fell 10% month-on-month to N1,491.75 per kilogramme in July, and demand rose 7% to 136,500 tonnes, its first increase since March.
Source: Facebook
Regional markets also under pressure
Nigeria was not alone in feeling the strain. In Ghana, seaborne LPG imports fell by nearly a third year-on-year to about 24,000 tonnes per month between April and August, according to vessel-tracking firm Kpler.
The shortfall pushed Ghana's LPG stocks down by more than three-quarters to just 5,500 tonnes in early July, roughly eight days of consumption. Higher output from the 40,000-barrel-per-day Sentuo refinery helped cushion the blow.
Cooking gas prices rise by 13.73%
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, rose by 13.73% on a month-on-month basis, increasing from N7,655.73 in March 2026 to N8,706.93.
On a year-on-year basis, the price increased by 10.42% from N7,885.60 recorded in April 2025.
The report also showed that the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of LPG rose by 13.89% month-on-month
Source: Legit.ng
