Consumers paid more for diesel, cooking gas, others in December-NBS

Adeoluwa Afusat

Nigerians during the last month (December) in 2019, paid more for diesel, kerosene and also a kilogram of cooking gas, the latest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

The report stated that the average price paid by consumers for automotive gas oil (diesel) increased by 2.10 per cent month-on-month and by 3.72 per cent year-on-year to N229.81 in December 2019 from N225.08 in November.

The breakdown of the figure os States with the highest average price of diesel were Benue (N266.25), Borno (N257.36) and Taraba (N246.67), while those with the lowest average price were Rivers (N203.81), Bayelsa (N209.17) and Ekiti (N215.00).

The average price per litre paid by consumers for national household kerosene increased by 0.96 per cent month-on-month and by 10.27 per cent year-on-year to N320.59 in December from N317.54 in November.

States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Imo (N386.01), Gombe (N380.95), and Adamawa (N360.21), while those with the lowest average price were Delta (N260.48), Borno (N269.81) and Abuja (N273.33).

The average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) increased by 0.92 per cent month-on-month to N2, 018.68 in December from N2, 000.29 in November.

The states with the highest average price for the refilling of a 5kg cylinder for LPG was Bauchi (N2, 491.57), Borno (N2, 383.33) and Adamawa (N2, 379.36).

Investigations revealed that most businesses and households in the country depend solely on petrol and diesel-powered generators for electricity as the power supply from the national grid remains insufficient.

Unlike petrol, diesel and kerosene have been deregulated and their pump prices are adjusted to reflect the reality in the global crude oil markets.

The report showed that the average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) decreased by 0.29 per cent year-on-year and by 0.41 per cent month-on-month to N145.35 in December from N145.94 in November.

Meanwhile, he highest average price of petrol was Benue (N148.50), Kebbi (N147.69) and Abia (N147.33), while those with the lowest average price were Taraba (N143.13), Abuja (N143.67) and Jigawa (N144.14).