Gas price hiked by up to 124%

Price increase not applicable to domestic consumers who use 50 cubic metres of gas

KARACHI:

After advice from the Petroleum Division, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Wednesday notified a gas sale price hike from 16.6 per cent to 124 per cent for categories of consumers of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and the Sui Southern Gas Company.

According to OGRA, the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division communicated the decision of the Economic Coordination Committee, ratified by the federal cabinet, regarding the gas sale price, effective January 01, 2023.

OGRA notified the sale prices against each category of retail consumers of natural gas.

As per details, the domestic category of gas consumers who use 100 cubic metres of gas will face a 16.6% hike in the price as the new cost for such consumers has been fixed at Rs350 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) whereas previously they were paying Rs300 per MMBTU for using 100 cubic metres of gas in a month.

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Similarly, the gas price for domestic gas consumers who use 200 cubic metres of gas has been jacked up by 32% and the new price for those domestic consumers has been set at Rs730 per MMBTU while previously they were paying Rs553 per MMBTU.

Likewise, the gas price for domestic consumers who use 300 cubic metres of gas has been increased by 69% fixed at Rs1,250 per MMBTU and for consumers who use 400 cubic metres of gas, the price increase is 99% to Rs2,200 per MMBTU.

Furthermore, for consumers who use more than 400 cubic metres of gas, the price hike is 124% to Rs3,277 per MMBTU while previously they were paying Rs1,460 per MMBTU.

The price for commercial gas consumers has been jacked up by 28.6% and the price has been increased from Rs1,283 to Rs1,650 per MMBTU.

Meanwhile, the power sector will face a price hike of 22.8% and the export sector a hike of 34%. The gas price for the compressed natural gas (CNG) sector has increased by 31%.

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For the fertiliser sector, the gas price has been increased by 46% to Rs1,500 per MMBTU while previously this sector was paying Rs1,023 per MMBTU.

Gas price for the cement sector has been increased by 17.46% from Rs1,277 to Rs1,500 per MMBTU.

It is worth mentioning that this new massive price hike will be applicable from 1st January to 30th June 2023. The collection of Rs50 per month from the protected category of domestic gas consumers and Rs500 per month from the non-protected domestic gas consumers was announced by OGRA.

According to sources, Rs310 million will be collected in the next six months because of the price hike. However, the price increase will not be applicable to domestic consumers who use 50 cubic metres of gas.