Cooking Gas Now Cheaper in Nigeria: Latest Price Update

If you’ve refilled a cooking gas cylinder in the last week or two, you might have noticed something unusual: it cost less than the last time. After months of watching prices climb and climb, with households cutting back on meals or switching to firewood just to cope, the cooking gas market in Nigeria has finally turned a corner.

So what actually happened, and is it going to stick?

The Price of Cooking Gas

Cooking gas, or LPG as it’s known in the industry, peaked at around ₦2,200 per kilogram. It’s now sitting closer to ₦1,500/kg. According to The Sun, that’s a drop of about 31.8%, or roughly ₦700 off every kilogram. For anyone refilling a 12.5kg cylinder, that’s not a small saving. That’s real money back in your pocket.

It’s worth saying, too, that this drop came after a particularly rough stretch. Punch Newspapers reported that prices had risen by as much as 140% in some parts of the country before this correction kicked in. So, while ₦1,500/kg still isn’t cheap by last year’s standards, it’s a welcome break from where things were heading.

But here’s the catch: not everyone is getting the same deal. Punch Newspapers broke down the regional differences, and the gap is pretty noticeable:

• Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta: ₦1,100 – ₦1,350/kg
• Benin City, Port Harcourt, Warri: ₦1,150 – ₦1,400/kg
• Onitsha, Enugu: ₦1,200 – ₦1,450/kg
• Abuja: ₦1,250 – ₦1,500/kg
• Kano, Kaduna: ₦1,300 – ₦1,550/kg
• Maiduguri and the North-East: ₦1,350 – ₦1,650/kg

There’s a clear pattern here, and it’s not surprising once you think about it. Cities closer to depots and production sites are seeing the bigger savings. The farther a region sits from supply infrastructure, the more transport and logistics costs eat into whatever gains there are.

Why Is This Happening Now?

A few things lined up at once, and it’s worth walking through them.

Supply got better, and hoarding eased off. Punch Newspapers reported that softer depot prices, more product from both local sources and imports, and a drop in panic buying all played a part. Basically, once people stopped scrambling to stockpile gas out of fear, the market settled.

The government cracked down on the people gaming the system. This part is interesting. According to The Sun, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo directed the NMDPRA, alongside the DSS, EFCC, and the police, to go after hoarding, diversion, and illegal storage of LPG. Artificial scarcity has been a real problem in this market, and this was a direct attempt to choke it off.

Domestic supply now comes first. Housing TV Africa reported that the government instructed that LPG produced inside Nigeria be prioritised for local consumption before any of it goes toward exports. That’s the kind of policy that sounds simple but actually moves the needle, since it stops local supply from getting squeezed out by more lucrative export deals.

Talking to each other actually worked. Sometimes the boring explanation is the right one. The Sun quoted NALPGAM President Edu Inyang, who credited the turnaround to ongoing conversations between marketers, regulators, and government agencies. In his words, the consultations “yielded positive results” and confidence returned to the market.

Global oil prices cooled off too. Nigeria still imports a chunk of its LPG, so what happens internationally matters. Legit.ng reported that falling crude oil prices, helped along by easing tensions between the US and Iran, brought down landing costs for imported fuel products, gas included.

Will It Keep Falling?

This is the part everyone actually wants to know. Is ₦1,500/kg the new floor, or just a breather before things climb back up?

The honest answer is: it depends. Housing TV Africa reported that NALPGAM is projecting prices could fall to somewhere between ₦900 and ₦1,100/kg by the end of 2026, but that’s conditional on the government actually following through on reforms. That means more investment in storage and depots outside Lagos and Port Harcourt, easier access to foreign exchange for importers, and fewer regulatory bottlenecks slowing things down.

Even Inyang himself was careful not to oversell it. MyPetroCareer noted that he described the ₦900-₦1,100 figure as an indicative target, not a guarantee, since exchange rates and global energy prices could still shift things in either direction.

What Should You Actually Do With This Information?

If you’ve been rationing gas or depending on firewood and charcoal lately, this might be a good time to switch back, though it’s worth checking around. The price difference between neighbourhoods, and even between two plants in the same city, can still be surprisingly large. Refilling at a certified plant directly, rather than through a roadside reseller, usually gets you a better rate and more accurate measurement.

If you run a business that depends on LPG, whether that’s a restaurant, a food vendor, or something more industrial, this is worth keeping an eye on over the next few months. A sustained drop could genuinely lower your operating costs.

Bottom Line

The prices of cooking gas in Nigeria have dropped to about ₦1,500/kg from an intolerable ₦2,200/kg thanks to very clear-cut factors, including supply, a clampdown on stockpiling, a domestic-first strategy, and favourable world crude oil prices. Will the downward trajectory continue to approach the target ₦900-₦1,100/kg? This will depend entirely on how much the government intervenes in terms of infrastructure and imports. It is good news for now. But one should not assume it’s permanent, as the market has shown it can move fast in both directions.