The subcommittee of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) chaired by Law Minister Farooq H Naek discussed the CNG price formula presented by Oil and Gas Regulation Authority (OGRA) and was unable to find a consensus between all stakeholders.
Members of the committee included representatives from OGRA, All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) and the petroleum ministry.
Speaking to media personnel following the meeting, Naek said several other pricing formulas had been presented during the meeting, all of which would be evaluated before coming to a final decision. Naek further said that he, along with Advisor to prime minister on petroleum Dr Asim Hussain, cabinet secretary and the petroleum secretary will give the final policy guidelines on the matter.
During the meeting, APCNGA President Ghayas Paracha presented a pricing formula that included the production costs of CNG stations. Paracha presented operational costs and details of expenses and demanded the government to consider these costs before finalising the retail price saying that this was an international practice backed by laws of accounting. He said the urea sector was getting gas much cheaper than the CNG sector and the same leverage was granted to independent power producers.
Paracha further said the average cost of establishing a CNG filling station stood at Rs 51.8 million while average sale was 54,868 kg per month- figures which must be considered while fixing prices. He demanded that CNG stations be treated at par with gas companies so that the business remained viable.
