March 02, 2020: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Industries Association Pakistan (LPGIAP) on Monday asked the government to take action against the elements involved in creating artificial shortage of the commodity, especially after limited movement on the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan, Balochistan due to the Coronavirus reports in Iran.
“The border is a key source to provide inexpensive gas (LPG) to consumers, but unfortunately some elements have increased the commodity price by taking unjust-advantage of the prevailing situation,” LPGIAP Chairman Irfan Khokhar told APP.
He demanded of the government to devise a long-term policy in that regard so that the provision of LPG could be ensured to consumers at controlled rates throughout the year.
Khokhar appreciated the government for reducing the LPG price by Rs 150.04 per cylinder of 11.8 kilograms and a considerable decrease in the price of petroleum products for the current month.
He urged the LPG distributors and retailers to sale the commodity at the notified rates of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) across the country.
Answering a question, the LPGIAP chairman expressed confidence that the LPG Auto Policy would be announced during the 5th International Energy and LPG Conference being planned in first of the next month.
Khokhar said Pakistan Petroleum Limited had started giving an equal share of domestically produced LPG to all companies, and hoped that other producers would also follow the government guidelines to create an environment of competition, smashing the cartels. “Its ultimate benefit will go to the end-users.” “It is the hallmark of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government that it has ended the monopoly of the mafia in the LPG industry by providing level playing field to all companies with equal distribution of the product.” He said almost 200 LPG marketing companies were operating across the country and providing the gas to consumers at the OGRA’s approved rates.
He said the association had been struggling for the last 12 years for equal distribution LPG quota among marketing companies.
He reiterated that the LPGIAP would ensure availability of the commodity to consumers on prescribed rates across the country.
Last year, he said the country imported around 224,026 MT LPG and produced 793,952 MT locally, adding, the commodity supply remained smooth due to effective policies introduced by the Petroleum Division.
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