CNG dealers oppose ‘proposed’ price rise

To meet petroleum secretary on 10th to discuss prices, outages.

ISLAMABAD: Compressed natural gas (CNG) dealers have opposed any further increase in gas prices and sought an end to loadshedding in Sindh and Punjab as the weather gets warmer.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, All Pakistan CNG Association Central Chairman Ghayas Paracha said consumers were being penalised by resorting to gas outages and increase in prices. “The government should stop increase in gas price and reduce loadshedding in order to provide relief to the consumers,” he said.

To discuss these issues, a delegation of the association met Petroleum Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry in Islamabad on Monday. Before that, the association’s central executive committee held an emergency meeting which also discussed the closure and cancellation of licences of 570 CNG stations.

“The petroleum secretary told us that there was no proposal for an increase in CNG prices, but the matter was being discussed in some standing committees as the government wants to discourage CNG consumption,” Paracha said.

In the meeting, the association representatives claimed that they had plans that would help save gas to meet needs of the CNG industry. In response, the petroleum secretary called a meeting at Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited on March 10 to discuss the issue of loadshedding and closure of CNG stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2012.