LPG prices reach Rs600 per kg amid supply disruptions

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is selling for Rs500 to Rs600 per kilogramme in markets across Pakistan, well above the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) notified price of Rs279.34 per kg for October, according to the report.

KARACHI: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is selling for Rs500 to Rs600 per kilogramme in markets across Pakistan, well above the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) notified price of Rs279.34 per kg for October, according to the report.

Disruptions to trade routes with Iran and rising demand as winter approaches in northern parts of the country have reportedly put pressure on supplies.

At the reported retail prices, an 11.8kg domestic LPG cylinder would cost about Rs5,900 to Rs7,080, compared with Ogra’s notified price of Rs3,296.23 for October.

Demand for LPG typically rises as temperatures fall in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, where households use the fuel for cooking and heating.

Ogra raised its notified LPG price for October by Rs20.69 per kg from September’s Rs258.65. The regulator set the price of an 11.8kg domestic cylinder at Rs3,296.23. The notified price applies to indigenous and imported LPG.

Irfan Khokhar, chairman of the LPG Distributors Association, confirmed that prices had risen and warned they could increase further in the coming days.

Khokhar said Ogra had set the October price at about Rs279 per kg and the official cylinder price at Rs3,350. He criticised the regulator for failing to close the gap between notified and retail prices, alleging that consumers were being overcharged.

He attributed supply disruptions to the closure of the Iranian border but said weak enforcement of the notified price was the main problem. He also alleged that billions of rupees were being made through illegal LPG sales and called for a government inquiry.

The allegations of illegal sales and regulatory failure could not be independently verified from the information provided.