A strike has been called by Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distributors and they have halted the distribution of LPG, owing to the drastic reduction in price worth Rs10/kg of fuel in the country. The strike call on February 15 was given by LPG distributors against the recently announced price hike by LPG marketing companies presenting excuses of jump in international price of the gas. The local producers of LPG had increased the price of the gas by Rs16/kg without any notification of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA). As a result of the move started by LPG distributors association of Pakistan, the price of gas on Thursday was reduced to Rs180/kg from Rs190/kg in hilly areas of the country, said Irfan Khokhar, chairman of the association.
Besides that, since the distributors have stopped purchasing LPG from the producers and marketing companies, the sale of LPG has also been reduced by 40 per cent within few days of the recent jump in price, he said. Terming the previous hike in price as unjustified Khokhar said, despite the reduction in price which was an eye wash against the jump in price made during the last couple of months, the association was firmed to stage the protest on the announced date. He said a country wide strike against OGRA and LPG companies and distribution mafia would be held on February 15. There was no formula or mechanism to set the price as per the imported and locally produced LPG while OGRA was helpless to determine the price besides giving a free hand to LPG marketing companies, he said.
Presenting the international prices and levy as excuses for the hike were against the ground realities as a meager volume of gas was being imported against the production. Also, there was no programme of import of LPG this month. He further said, the distributors would defend the LPG Policy 2011 at any cost and the profiteers would not be allowed to sale the local gas at international rate. He appealed the chief justice and prime minister of Pakistan to take notice of the record high price LPG which has multiplied the woes of the poverty hit people especially in the hilly areas. After the slight reduction in prices, LPG was now available in Gilgit Baltistan, FATA, Balakot, Aazad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Swat, etc, at the price of Rs180/kg. LPG prices in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Mansehra, Nathyagali, Swat and Murree have been reduced from Rs170/kg to Rs160/kg and from Rs1,990 to Rs1,870 per domestic cylinders.
In Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Kasur, Sahiwal,Khaniwal, Jhang and Sargodha, the price of domestic cylinder has been reduced from Rs155 to Rs145/kg, while prices of domestic cylinder have been declined from Rs1,630 to Rs1,530. Prices in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan ,Kohat, Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Mandi Bahuddin, and Sukkhur have been recorded from Rs160 to Rs150/kg, while prices of domestic cylinder have reduced from Rs1,870 to Rs1,750. Faisalabad, Gujrat, Jehlum, Mirpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur prices of LPG were declined from Rs155 to Rs145 and price of domestic cylinder from Rs1,810 to Rs1,690. It is worth mentioning here that earlier after the recent hike in LPG prices the gas which was produced at the rate of Rs9/kg was now available at the rate of Rs190/kg in hilly areas of the country. LPG producers, OGDCL, PARCO and JJVL had raised the price to Rs109,703/tonne with the increase of Rs15,846/tonne. After the fresh hike, the retail price of domestic and commercial cylinder jumped from Rs186 and Rs716, respectively.
