All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association, North Zone, has demanded of the government to direct the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) to reduce its LPG price, otherwise the Association will take "effective action" against it. In a statement, Chairman of all Pakistan Distributors Association (North Zone) Attiq Khan said that the OGDC, a leading producer, had increased the LPG price from Rs 63,944 to Rs 70,346 per ton, including the general sales tax (GST).
"This increase is the result of the raise in Saudi Aramco contract price from 660 dollars to 730 dollars. This is a great injustice to the poor person who uses LPG," he added. He said although the cost of LPG was Rs 17,000 per metric tonne, these producers were blatantly selling it at a rate Rs 70,346 per metric tonne. "This is a gross violation of the rules, as the interim government had de-linked LPG from the Saudi Aramco Contract Price," he clarified.
Khan said: "Our local production of LPG is from 1,450 to 1,550 metric tonne per day, whereas our consumption of LPG is around 3,100 tonne per day. "Therefore, we appreciate those LPG marketing companies, who have covered this shortfall by importing 65,500 metric tonnes of LPG from January to Novemver, 2009. If we eliminate the 16 percent sales tax on the import of LPG, the price of LPG can be reduced by Rs 10 to Rs 15 per kilogram," he said.
He said the tie-in of the local price with Saudi Aramco contract price was a great joke with the people of Pakistan. He said the all Pakistan LPG Distributors Association appreciated the LPG marketing companies, which were earning profits according to the Ogra guidelines, and not through any other way. He appealed to the government to monitor the LPG tie-in price, and control the exorbitant profits being made by the producers.