BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Though Nigerians have borne the brunt of rising energy costs in recent times, kerosene users appear to be more affected when compared to consumers of gas in the last one year.
This is because the average price of kerosene increased by about 164 percent from N437.11 per litre in January 2022 to N1, 153.40 per litre in January 2023 while gas users had to pay only an increase of 25.46 percent in price to refill a 5kg Liquefied Petroleum Gas between January 2022 and January 2023.
Average price moved from N3, 657.57/5Kg in January 2022 to N4, 588.75/5Kg in January 2023.
Figures made available by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, also showed that the average retail price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) increased by 0.51 percent on a month-on-month basis from N4,565.56 recorded in December 2022 to N4,588.75 in January 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in January 2023 was N1, 153.40, indicating an increase of 4.42 percent compared to N1, 104.61 recorded in December 2022.
On state profile analysis, the highest average price per litre of kerosene in January 2023 was recorded in Abuja with N1, 566.67, followed by Lagos with N1, 411.11 and Plateau with N1, 383.33. On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Jigawa with N891.67, followed by Edo with N925.93 and Katsina with N935.19.
In addition, analysis by zone showed that the South-West recorded the highest average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene with N1, 232.15, followed by the South-East with N1, 223.95, while the North-West recorded the lowest with N1, 003.54.
The average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers in January 2023 was N3, 886.11, showing an increase of 3.54 percent from N3, 753.38 in December 2022. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 154.20 percent from N1, 528.74 in January 2022.
On the other hand, Kwara State recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N4, 962.50, followed by Plateau with N4, 945.50, and Adamawa with N4, 936.67. On the other hand, Enugu recorded the lowest price with N4, 119.23, followed by Anambra and Rivers with N4, 183.14 and N4, 210.00 respectively.
In addition, analysis by zone showed that the North-Central recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N4,859.60, followed by the North-West with N4,616.66, while the South-East recorded the lowest with N4,408.99.
Also, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) increased by 0.28 percent on a month-on-month basis from N10, 248.97 in December 2022 to N10, 277.17 in January 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 38.63 percent from N7, 413.25 in January 2022.
On state profile analysis, Benue recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N11, 260.67, followed by Cross River with N10, 833.33 and Ebonyi with N10, 763.57. Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Yobe with N9, 550.00, followed by Taraba and Gombe with N9, 845.00 and N9, 850.00 respectively.
