LPG price on Pakistan’s open market reaches 630 rupees per kg — Dawn
In Pakistan, the official price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rose to 294 rupees per kilogram in November, but fuel is being sold on the open market for up to 630 rupees per kilogram. Dawn reports. Companies operating under franchises are setting prices of up to 400 rupees per kilogram amid a gas shortage.
Official price increase
Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority set the LPG price for November at 294,075 rupees per tonne, compared with 279,341 rupees in the previous month. The cost of an 11.8-kilogram household cylinder increased by 173 rupees to 3,470 rupees.
The regulator explained the price revision by linking the LPG price for producers to Saudi Aramco-CP and the US dollar exchange rate. Saudi Aramco-CP increased by 6.47% over the month, while the average dollar exchange rate declined by 0.12%. As a result, the consumer gas price rose by 14.73 rupees per kilogram.
Closure of the border with Iran and threat of a strike
Irfan Khokhar, chairman of the LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan, said the situation had become serious because of the closure of the border with Iran. According to him, the country imported at least 70% of its LPG from Iran, while domestic production accounted for 30%. He called on the authorities to take action against market manipulation.
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The Pakistan LPG Marketers Association also warned that it could halt operations from November 16 if the new state policy in the sector sidelines the private sector. Association chairman Ali Haider said the government should not reverse the deregulation of the LPG market.
According to Haider, of approximately 1.3 million tonnes of LPG, only about 225,000 tonnes are imported from Persian Gulf countries, mainly by the private sector. The association wrote to Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, saying that the draft new policy submitted to the prime minister did not take into account the position of private companies.
Haider also claimed that state-owned companies had not ensured LPG imports amid the current shortage, although the 2016 policy provided for collecting a petroleum industry development levy of 4,669 rupees per tonne of locally produced LPG to finance winter and emergency purchases.
