ISLAMABAD  -  The caretaker government Thursday slashed the prices of re-gasified lique­fied natural gas (RLNG) by up to $1.2867 per Metric Million British Thermal Units (MMBTU) or 9.03 percent for Sui gas companies, for February 2024.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) released a notification stating that the RLNG price for consumers of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has decreased by $1.1976 per MMBTU (8.75pc) from the previous month, while for consumers of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) it has been decreased by $1.2867 per MMBTU (9.03pc) compared to January prices.

The weighted average sale price for SNGPL consumers is now $12.4922 per MMBTU, while SSGC consumers will be charged $12.9584 per MMBTU. In Janu­ary, the prices were $13.6898 per MMB­TU for SNGPL consumers and $14.2451 per MMBTU for SSGCL consumers.

The revised RLNG prices include several elements such as charges for LNG terminals, transmission losses, port charges, and margins for state-owned importers, namely Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Lim­ited (PLL). These prices were deter­mined based on the import of eight cargoes by PSO and two cargoes by PLL. All the eight cargoes procured by PSO are under long term contract, while PLL has purchased two cargoes.

Four LNG cargoes procured by PSO under long term contract were $10.6202 per MMBTU and four at $8.1055 per MMBTU. While, PLL has procured one cargo under long term contract at $9.6432 per MMBTU, while the cost of the second cargo of PLL was $10.77 per MMBTU. RLNG prices have fluctuated since January 2023. OGRA reduced RLNG prices nine times since January 2023, with increases recorded for five months of May, September, Octo­ber, November and December.

Prices started declining in January, with a reduction of up to 2.2 percent. Further decreases followed in Febru­ary (4.3 percent), March (3.16 percent), and April (0.47 percent). There was an increase of 1.3 percent in May 2023, fol­lowed by decreases in June (2.55 per­cent), July (1.5 percent), and August (1.3 percent). September saw an increase of 3.08 percent, October 3.8 percent, November 1.2 percent and December 10.11 percent in RLNG prices. It is worth to note that for the month of January also the government had reduced the prices of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) by up to $1.2074 per MMBTU or 7.81 percent for Sui gas companies.