ISLAMABAD-The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has reduced the average sale price of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) by up to 0.47 percent for the consumers of the state owned Sui gas companies for the month of April 2023.
According to notification issued by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the price of RLNG has been reduced by $0.0626/mmBtu (0.47pc) for the consumers of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), while for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) consumers, prices have been cut by $0.0302/mmBtu (0.22pc) over the previous month (March 2023). The determined RLNG weighted average sale provisional price notice issued Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) set RLNG prices at $13.2316/mmBtu for the consumers of SNGPL and $13.4801/mmBtu for SSGC consumers. In March the consumers on SNGPL network were paying $13.2942/mmBtu, while those on SSGC network were being charged $13.5102/mmBtu.
It is worth mentioning here that during the ongoing calendar year OGRA had four times reduced the prices of RLNG for the consumers of both the Sui Companies. In January, prices were reduced by up to 2.2 percent, 4.3 percent in February and 3.16 percent in March. LNG is pegged to the price of crude. Gas price also fluctuates with crude price movement. The newly notified prices of RLNG also include charges of the LNG terminals, transmission losses, port charges, and margins of the state-run importers Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL).
The new weighted average sale prices of RLNG have been computed based on nine cargoes imported by PSO, while PLL imported one cargo of this super-chilled gas. It is to be noted that under two long-term contracts with Qatar, PSO is procuring LNG at 13.37 percent of Brent and 10.20 percent of Brent respectively. According to Ogra notification, six cargos were procured at a slope of 13.37 percent of Brent while three at 10.2 percent. For the last eight months, PLL has procured one cargo per month, except for February when it made no procurement. However, for March and April, it imported one cargo each.
Owing to limited availability of indigenous natural gas, Pakistan heavily relying on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fulfill its energy needs. The import of LNG has played a crucial role in bridging the gap between the demand and supply of natural gas in the country.