Pakistan’s regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) prices have surged to their highest level in a decade, after the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) notified a 32 percent increase for August, driven by expensive spot LNG purchases.
OGRA fixed the August RLNG price at $25.83 per mmBtu for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and $25.09 per mmBtu for Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), equivalent to a retail price of about Rs. 7,204 per mmBtu.
According to the regulator, Pakistan had to procure five LNG cargoes from the spot market after it was unable to secure shipments from Qatar because of the US-Iran conflict. The August increase follows an earlier 15 percent rise in July, pushing RLNG prices to their highest level since Pakistan began LNG imports.
Compared with February’s RLNG price of $10.45 per mmBtu, August’s rate is around 148 percent higher, significantly increasing fuel costs for RLNG-based electricity generation. The fuel cost of RLNG-based power had already risen to Rs. 31 per unit in May, compared with Rs. 13.72 per unit in April.
Separately, OGRA also increased LPG prices by 5.4 percent for August, raising the official price to Rs. 254.32 per kilogram from Rs. 241.43 per kilogram in July.
OGRA also disclosed that it had reduced the prescribed revenue requirement for SNGPL and SSGCL, creating around Rs. 50 billion in savings. Instead of reducing consumer gas tariffs, the savings will be used to offset the gas sector’s circular debt, which stands at around Rs. 3.5 trillion, according to government officials.
The regulator determined annual revenue requirements of about Rs. 501 billion for SNGPL and Rs. 315.8 billion for SSGCL for FY27, while consumer-end natural gas tariffs for the new fiscal year have yet to be notified.
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