LPG prices to fall further

Retail prices are expected to reflect the decline in the international market.

ISLAMABAD: Price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is likely to further decrease by up to Rs10 per kilogramme on Thursday as the government has sprung into action against unethical forces within the market.

LPG Distributors Association Chairman Muhammad Irfan Khokhar, while talking to APP, said that many factors have contributed to the drop in prices, adding the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has taken concrete steps and has conducted several raids, while the Federal Board of Revenue has tightened the noose around tax evaders.

Moreover, he said, the Saudi market price has dropped by $112, or 12 per cent, to $814 per ton in February compared to $926 per ton in January.

He added that one could now expect that retail prices would reflect the same decline. Khokhar said the sale of locally produced LPG at prices above the Saudi export price would be detrimental to consumer interest and the government needs to discourage this.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2011.