LPG prices go up 8.5%

Ogra bumps up LPG price by Rs9 per kg.

ISLAMABAD:

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has notified an increase in prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) over Rs 9 per kilogram for the month of August.

Ogra’s letter dated August 5 states that the “maximum reasonable consumer price for 100 per cent locally produced LPG” is Rs. 1,348 per 11.8kg cylinder or Rs114 per kilogramme. It has also determined the “maximum reasonable consumer price for 100 per cent imported LPG” at Rs1,487 per 11.8kg cylinder or Rs126 per kilogramme. The maximum reasonable price for local and imported mix is Rs1376 per cylinder or Rs117 per kg for August.

Previously, Ogra had directed LPG marketing companies to ensure that the “maximum reasonable consumer price” for locally produced LPG should not exceed Rs1,240 per 11.8kg cylinder or Rs105 per kilogramme during July 2011. Ogra has therefore notified a minimum increase of Rs9 per kilogramme for locally produced LPG for month of August.

The notification also says that the increase is based on the $26 per metric ton increase in the Saudi Aramco Contract Price for the current month.

According to the   Ogra notification, due to higher transportation cost in AJK, FATA and Northern Areas, Rs 30 per 11.8 kg LPG cylinder would be admissible to each respective type of LPG reasonable consumer price.

Ogra has also issued a warning to all distributors and to LPG marketing companies to ensure that the consumer price of LPG does not exceed the price set by Ogra, until the next determination, and that failure to ensure this will result in action.





Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2011.