Approved on Wednesday by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, the increase in petrol prices to 35.13 percent met another requirement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The ECC of the Cabinet met under the direction of Federal Minister of Finance Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, according to the Finance Division.
A day before the IMF deadline, there was a lengthy discussion on the Petroleum Division’s summary of “Natural Gas Sale Pricing FY 2023–24 (Effective February 1, 2024).”
According to sources, a pricing hike of 35.13 percent on average has been authorised for petrol users in Punjab, KP, and Islamabad. However, a pricing hike of 8.57 percent on average has also been allowed for petrol users in Sindh and Balochistan.
According to sources, Sui Northern’s revised rate of Rs. 1673.82 per MMBTU (or an increase of Rs. 435.14 per MMBTU) has been accepted by the ECC. Conversely, the chair authorised an increase in rate of Rs. 115.72 per MMBTU (or Rs. 1466.40 per MMBTU) for Sui Southern based on the Petroleum Division’s suggestion.
According to reports, the Ministry of Petroleum has suggested raising the current pricing slabs for domestic protected users by between Rs. 80 and Rs. 100 per MMBTU. According to the sources, a progressive hike in pricing slabs ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300/MMBtu has been recommended for vulnerable users.
According to sources, the petroleum ministry has suggested raising the price of fuel for special commercial and bulk domestic usage (Roti Tandoor).
It is suggested that the bulk usage price be raised to Rs. 2,900/MMBtu from Rs. 2,000/MMBtu. There will be a fixed rate for the special commercial (Roti Tandoor) category of Rs. 700/MMBtu. Since 2015, the special commercial category tariff has remained unchanged.
According to sources, the petroleum division also suggested raising the price of feed and fuel petrol to Rs. 760 and Rs. 1,750 per MMBtu for the Engro Fertiliser and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim plants, respectively. The updated gas pricing for Engro Fertiliser will go into effect on March 1st, 2024.
Additionally, the SNGPL network is now providing RLNG to two other facilities, Agritech and Fatima Fert. The average prescribed price, if these facilities are supplied system gas on SNGPL, is Rs. 1,596/MMBtu, which is the suggested price for these units.
According to sources, the ECC also gave its approval to do away with the current export and non-export classifications.
The current gas process tariff is Rs. 2,100/MMBtu for the export sector and Rs. 2,200/MMBtu for the non-export business.
Additionally, PD has suggested changing the CNG sector’s prices from Rs. 3600/MMBtu to Rs. 3,750/MMBtu, which is similar to the price of RLNG, the fuel used by the bulk of the nation’s CNG manufacturers.
Following deliberation, the ECC determined that the revised tariff or selling price should align with the income needs of the Sui businesses.
