LPG price touches record high: fourth increase in two months

The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has reached a record high, as the state owned LPG producers have increased their production price by Rs 15,800 per ton, or Rs 16 per kg. A notification issued by Pak Arab Refinery (Parco) said: "Ex-Refinery price of LPG from Parco mid-country refinery, Mahmood Kot, for licensed marketing companies will be Rs 83,000 per ton."
This price is exclusive of sales tax, excise duty and any other government levy and is effective from February 3." The resultant increase in producer prices will translate into an increase of Rs 187 for domestic and Rs 720 for commercial cylinder. LPG average retail prices are expected to increase to Rs 155 per kg, whereas the sale price for domestic and commercial cylinders will increase from Rs 1650 to Rs 1837 and Rs 6356 to Rs 7076 respectively.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) is responsible to fix LPG prices, but the Authority has not issued any notification in this connection. The product price in hilly areas, including Murree, Muzafarabad, Gilgit-Baltsitan (GB) Mansehra, Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balakot, has reached Rs 190 per kg against Rs 175 per kg,, while in plain areas including Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Rawal-pindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rahimyar Khan, Multan, Attock Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar has reached Rs 170 per kg against Rs 155.
In cities including Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Attock LPG would be sold at Rs 175 per kg against Rs 160, while in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Sukhar, Rahimyar Khan and Sadiqabad LPG prices are increased from Rs 145 per kg to Rs 160. After inclusion of all taxes and Petroleum Development Levy at Rs 11, 486 per ton, state-owned LPG producers including Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum (PPL) and Parco increased their price from Rs 93,856 to Rs 109,702 per ton. The increase is in response to the Saudi Aramco Contract Price with which local prices are indexed and which increased to a record $1028 per ton.
The LPG prices registered fourth increase within two month. On December 7, 2011 LPG prices were increased by Rs 5 per kg, Rs 60 per domestic cylinder and Rs 220 per commercial cylinder again on December 29 increased from Rs 5-10 per kg. The recent increase in the product prices has taken the commodity price to Rs 190 per kg, which is all time high in the country. The Government is the single largest producer of LPG in the country and is, therefore, the direct beneficiary of the increase in prices.