According to a notification issued by Ogra, the prices of CNG have been raised to Rs59.57 per kg for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Potohar region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujar Khan) and to Rs56.80 for Sindh and Punjab (central and south). – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) increased on Wednesday prices of CNG (compressed natural gas) by Rs1.20 per kilogram to compensate the CNG industry whose cost of doing business has gone up after the recent hike in electricity tariff and diesel prices.

According to a notification issued by Ogra, the prices of CNG have been raised to Rs59.57 per kg for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the Potohar region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujar Khan) and to Rs56.80 for Sindh and Punjab (central and south).

The regulator said that CNG stations had been forced to use diesel-run generators because of the prolonged electricity loadshedding and, therefore, the additional loss was being offset with the increase in CNG prices.

While the decision has been welcomed by the All Pakistan CNG Association, consumers, especially those in Punjab where CNG stations have been closed for two days because of gas loadshedding by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), have expressed disappointment and frustration.

A delegation of the association met Dr Asim Hussain, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, on Wednesday to discuss ways to end the two-day gas loadshedding for CNG in Punjab.

The meeting decided that SNGPL would finalise in a week a report determining the real impact of gas loadshedding on the CNG industry in Punjab. SNGPL officials said the CNG sector was consuming about 140mmcfd gas, but the two-day loadshedding was saving only 29mmcfd.

Dr Asim said the CNG and fertiliser sectors did not have any alternative to natural gas and asked the stakeholders to submit a proposal to end the loadshedding for these sectors.