LPG price increased by Rs 17 per kg

The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been increased by Rs 17 per kilogram ie, Rs 200 per domestic cylinder and Rs 700 per commercial cylinder, said a notification issued by Pak Arab Refinery (Parco) issued here on Friday. According to the Ex-Refinery price of LPG from Parco mid country refinery, Mahmood Kot, for licensed marketing companies, will be Rs 202,000 per ton against Rs 97,410 per ton.
This price is exclusive of sales tax, excise duty and any other government levy and is effective from March 3, the notification adds. The resultant increase in producer prices will translate into an increase of Rs 6 per kg that is Rs 70 per domestic cylinder and Rs 270 per commercial cylinder. LPG average retail prices are expected to increase to Rs 161 per kg against Rs 255 per kg.
After the current increase in the LPG prices by Rs 18,746 per ton, the 11.8 kg per domestic cylinder would be sold at Rs 1,755 against Rs 1,534 and commercial cylinder at Rs 6,753 against Rs 5,902. Average retail price of the commodity is expected to increase to Rs 160 per kg against Rs 143 per kg, making LPG once again the most expensive fuel in Pakistan.
The government has linked LPG prices to Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP), with which the domestic market is linked, touched record highs for March delivery at dollars 1,230 per ton for propane and dollars 1,180 for butane. According to LPG marketing companies, the private sector has not imported any quantity of the commodity in February, whereas demand has also been shrinking due to a continuous hike in LPG prices by public sector as well as private sector LPG producers.
Public sector producers including Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Parco, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) are major LPG producers in the country with a daily production of 778 ton per day. While private producers including Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL), Attock Group and Byco are producing 360 ton of LPG daily.
Potential demand of LPG in the country is around 2,000 tons per day against its total production of around 1,130 ton per day, but due to high prices majority of the people can not afford it. According to market sources, at present OGDCL has a stock of 626 tons of LPG at different fields, but marketing companies are not interested in lifting the gas due to low demand because of high prices. According to LPG marketing companies and distributors, the sales of the commodity in the month of February were reduced by 40 percent due to high prices.