Enugu – The cost of obtaining kerosene for domestic cooking needs is fast getting out of reach of the common man in some parts of Enugu, the coal city, and environs.

A check in Enugu on Saturday revealed that the cost per litre of kerosene has increased by between 200 per cent and 250 per cent of the approved pump price of N50 per litre.

A correspondent who checked at various dispensing outlets in Enugu reports that the price now ranges from between N150 and N170 per litre.

At the C to C to filling Station, Agbani Road, the product now sells for N170 per liter while at African Petrol Filling Station, Coal Camp Enugu and Avis Station at Coal Camp, the product sells for N150 per liter.

Retailers sell a beer bottle of kerosene for  N180.

Mrs Ifeoma Eke, a trader who retails the product in bottles at Umuoji Street, sells a beer bottle of the product at between N180 and N200.

She also sells half of the bottle at N80, attributing the high cost to the inability of the NNPC to make the product generally available.

Another roadside retailer, Mrs Chinyere Okorie told NAN that it cost her enormously to source kerosene for re-sale as she had to stand in queues at the NNPC Mega Station for days to get supplies.

Mrs Chibuko Nwaka, a student of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu said she could no longer cook owing to the high cost of kerosene.

She said that she could not afford N200 to purchase a bottle of kerosene, which could last her a long while.

Mr Samuel Ugwu, a transporter plying the Udi-Ezeagu route, said that the product sells for between N200 and N250 a beer bottle at Udi.

He said that because of the remoteness of the area to the township, many households no longer use kerosene to energise their lanterns.

Chief Chukwudi Ezinwa, Chairman, South East Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) explained in an interview that kerosene has partially been deregulated.

He said the development could account for the  frequent scarcity of the product.  (NAN)