Sui Gas consumers may face an additional burden in the form of gas price-hike as the gas companies have demanded an increase in gas prices upto 237percent.
As per reports, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has soughtRs1,294 per MMBTU and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) sought RsRs667.44/MMBTU.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) received the application ofboth gas utilities
and decided to conduct separate hearings on these applications. The OGRAwill hear SNGPL on November 14 in Lahore and it will hear SSGCL on November21 in Karachi. The gas consumers who are already bearing the heavy brunt ofthe gas shortage would bear an additional burden if OGRA approves theproposed hike in the gas price as sought by both the Sui gas companies.
Read Top Stories
Sources in OGRA said that gas has become expensive following the increasein crude oil price in the international oil market while the decrease inthe value of Pak currency has also been causing an additional burden on gasconsumers.
It is pertinent to mention here that country’s gas consumers have beenfacing an additional burden owing to a gas shortage which is mainly due tothe fast and continuous depletion of domestic gas reserves and asignificant reduction in the import of gas as a couple of global gassuppliers, in violation of long-term agreements, had canceled the scheduledshipments over the past few months after gas prices shot up in the worldmarket while the government has been avoiding buying expensive gas fromglobal spot markets as gas imported under long-term agreements remainedcheaper.
