ISLAMABAD: Following the demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Petroleum Division has re-submitted summary of raising gas sale prices by 50 per cent to the interim cabinet. The Petroleum Division will notify the category-wise consumer sale price after approval from the cabinet.
According to the earlier recommendation from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the gas prices should be raised by 50 per cent (Rs415.11) for consumers of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and by 45 per cent (Rs417.23) for consumers of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).
Interim Minister for Energy, Muhammad Ali had already briefed that an increase in gas sale prices was inevitable ahead of winter. He stated that the rise in rates would help contain the gas-sector circular debt – Rs350 billion per year. The debt of the gas sector has already piled up to Rs2.7 trillion. IMF also want to implement a weighted average cost of gas to recover RLNG prices from domestic consumers.
The oil and gas regulator has allowed SNGPL and SSGC to collect an estimated revenue requirement (ERR) of Rs 697.4 billion from gas consumers. The SSGC will collect Rs 339 billion, while SNGPL will collect Rs 358.4 billion.
