New LPG policy
Dawn · Editorial ·
If the policy is enforced effectively, it could potentially help end shortages and slash prices. But the question remains whether it will.
EACH winter, millions of working-class households across the country face the same ordeal. LPG, long considered the poor man’s fuel, is now what many middle-class families use for cooking and heating. An increasing number of homes lacking piped connections in cities end up buying cylinders as temperatures fall.
Gas rationing due to shortages caused by dwindling domestic gas reserves, together with increasing tariffs on imported RLNG, is boosting the demand for LPG. When winter sets in, demand jumps, supply tightens, and traders hoard stocks.
This year, as the petroleum minister told the National Assembly last month, the closure of the western borders has disrupted import shipments, which account for 70pc of LPG imports, exacerbating the shortages. The Saudi Aramco price, to which local LPG is linked, has also risen to $705 per tonne and the fuel is selling at Rs700-800 per kilogram — well above the official ceiling. For families already stretched by inflation, even LPG has become something to ration.