Price Watch: Report suggests Nigerians paid less for kerosene, diesel, and gas in May

Bamidele Samuel Adesoji

5 years ago

Prices of Kerosene, Cooking Gas and Diesel

The Lastest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that the average price per litre of Kerosene in Nigeria decreased to N315.91 in May 2019, down from N316.26 recorded in the month of April. This represents a 0.11% declined in the prices of Kerosene month-on-month basis.

The report further disclosed that the price of automotive gas oil (diesel) decreased to N228.02 in May 2019 from to N230.67 in the previous month.

Similarly, the average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) decreased to N2,028.04 in May 2019 down from N2,046.53 in April. Essentially, average prices of cooking Gas decreased by -0.90%
month-on-month and -2.13% year-on-year.

Price variations across States: In the month of May, States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene include: Anambra (N363.54), Ebonyi (N355.00), and Plateau (N351.85). However, consumers in Abuja (N291.67), Katsina (N290.67) and Gombe (N265.39) enjoyed the lowest average price per litre of kerosene.

More so, States with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene are- Gombe (N1,415.38), Taraba (N1,397.00) & Jigawa (N1,378.57). Bayelsa (N1,040.90) Akwa Ibom (N1,031.25) and Abuja(N1,012.50) on the other hand, recorded the lowest average price per gallon of kerosene.

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Moving on, the States with the highest average price of diesel include: Borno (N266.67), Adamawa (N245.63) and Cross River (N245.28), while Nasarawa (N206.93), Ekiti (N206.65) and Benue (N203.33) recorded the lowest average price of diesel.

Lastly, Cooking gas Consumers in Adamawa and Bauchi (N2,500.00), Yobe (N3,375.00) and Borno (N2,342.86) paid the highest average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder for Cooking Gas. However, Consumers in Edo (N1,714.17), Abuja (N1,675.00) and Ebonyi (N1,666.67) paid the lowest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for Cooking Gas.

Prices across zones: The average price for refilling 5kg of cooking gas was highest in North East Zone (N2356.68). Followed by South-South (N2002.14), North West (N1989.29), South East (N2023.44), North Central (N1963.27) and South West (N1963.27).

Also, South East Zone maintains the highest average price of Kerosene at N340.33 per litre, South West (N327.87), North East (N310.66), South-South (N310.17), North West (N308.98) and North Central (N304.33).

Lastly, consumers in the North East zone paid the highest average price of N235.93 per litre of Diesel. Followed by South East Zone (N234.05), North West (N229.76), South-South (N226.85), South West (N226.85) and North Central (N219.84).

Upshots: Analysis of the report shows that average prices of Kerosene, Diesel and Cooking gas all dropped for the month of May. This suggests that consumers paid less than they did in the previous month, and this must have improved the consumers’ purchasing powers, thereby improving sales and revenue of companies supplying these products.

Similarly, while these products are used by both firms and individuals, business owners and household would have a sense of relief following the fall. At least, in the meantime, this will aid small business in terms of downsizing cost of production and thereby boosting profit.