Islamabad: The federal government has accelerated the consultation process to make the petroleum sector independent of government decisions and uniform the prices of various types of gases, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), in the country.
These instructions were issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the Petroleum Division during a meeting yesterday.
Sources told Express that a high-level meeting was held in the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard, in which important issues related to the petroleum sector were considered. Various proposals related to freeing the petroleum sector from government decisions were considered in the meeting. In addition, the issue of implementing uniform gas prices for various industrial sectors was also under consideration.
According to sources, initially the government is considering leaving the prices of petroleum products determined by the refinery to the market (deregulate) and later this step should be taken forward with regard to products coming out of the depot.
The prices of petroleum products coming out of the depot include the cost of supply, the profit of dealers and the profit of oil marketing companies. However, dealers are opposing the independence of these prices from government decisions, as otherwise they will have to face competition in determining prices in the local market.
Oil industry sources say that the government has been considering these proposals and issues for a long time, but no practical steps have been taken in this regard yet.
Regarding the prices of gas coming out of the well, sources said that this gas belongs to oil and gas exploration companies, so it is not possible to determine their uniform prices because the oil companies have entered into different agreements with the government, according to which the prices of gas coming out of different wells are determined differently, so it is not possible to change these agreements. However, the government has the authority to determine uniform prices for gas supplied through pipes and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
