December 18, 2019: The Petroleum Division Wednesday rejected a news item appearing in a cross-media section about 214 percent increase in gas tariff from next month, saying “no such increase has been notified by the government.”
“The proposed hike is neither definitive nor has it been accorded approval at any forum. Media’s insertion that an increase of 214% in gas prices for the domestic sector has been decided is strongly denied,” a Petroleum Division (PD) press release said.
Elaborating the ‘established’ process of determining gas tariffs, it said the prices were revised twice in a year after taking into account a number of ‘factors and denominators.’
The PD said Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) under Section 8 (1)/8 (2) of the OGRA Ordinance, 2002 “determines an estimate of the total revenue requirement” and “advises the Federal Government the prescribed price of natural gas for each category of the retail consumer of natural gas.” “This determination by OGRA is also known as the prescribed price whereas under Section 8 (3), it is the Federal Government's prerogative to determine the final price after a consultative mechanism which primarily includes the forum of the Economic Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) and later the Federal Cabinet.”
It said views and input of all concerned ministries and divisions were taken into account before any decision on prices was made.
“The price increase and numbers being quoted in the media is just a ‘proposal.’ A final decision and notification of new prices will be made after the established deliberative process is exhausted,” the PD said, requesting the media to refrain from airing and publishing ‘proposed numbers’ till final notification of revised gas prices.
