Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has proposed to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to amend existing gas price mechanism by linking rates with Gas Calorific Value (GCV), sources in Ogra revealed exclusively to Business Recorder.
Ogra has dispatched a letter to the Petroleum Ministry suggesting a change in the gas pricing mechanism subsequent to CNG Association taking up the issue with the authority arguing that gas utilities - SNGPL and SSGCL - were charging higher gas rates from all types of consumers after raise in GCV. In the prevailing mechanism, Ogra takes average GCV to determine the gas price across the board.
"After linking gas price with GCV, price of gas will not be uniform across the country," sources said. All types of consumers are currently paying the same price for inferior as well as superior quality gas. The proposed amended mechanism recommends consumers pay a higher price for superior quality relative to inferior quality.
After induction of gas from Tull Block operated by MOL Company, GCV has increased from 1040 to 1075 per MMBTU. At present the country has been divided into two zones with respect to CNG price: (i) Punjab-Sindh and (ii) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Some quarters in government have also proposed dividing the country into 7 to 8 zones which would have differing prices as per GCV if their proposal is approved.
When contacted, Central Chairman All Pakistan CNG Association Ghiyas Paracha, said SNGPL and SSGCL had increased GCV to 1098 per MMBTU causing a hike in gas bills for all types of consumers including domestic. "SNGPL and SSGCL take high GCV as benchmark to determine gas price putting a burden on consumers who are using low GCV gas," Paracha alleged and said that consumers using gas with 100 psi pressure and as low as 10-15 psi pressure are paying the same price. Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of cabinet had decided that consumers would pay the actual cost of gas. "But in current mechanism, some consumers are paying more and some less," he said.
Another office bearer of CNG association Abdul Sami Khan alleged that SSGCL was charging higher price for low quality gas from CNG stations in Karachi. "We have written to Ogra many times to take action against the gas utility for charging higher rates for low quality gas but no remedial action has been taken so far," he maintained.