Govt Reduces RLNG Prices by 1.5% in July

The government has reduced the average monthly sale price of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) by up to $0.1938 or 1.5 percent for July 2023. On Tuesday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) announced its decided RLNG weighted average selling preliminary pricing. It fixed RLNG pricing at $12.6493/mmBtu for SNGPL customers and $13.1367/mmBtu for SSGC customers. This marks a 1.5 percent decrease over the previous rate and comes after a series of rate cuts seen in prior months. The lowered price will most likely have a minor influence on electricity generating costs, notably for RLNG-based power plants as the federal government has already decided to increase electricity rates with effect from the current billing cycle. With the exception of a few months, the federal government has been lowering RLNG costs for domestic customers since May last year. RLNG prices in the domestic market in May 2022 were the highest ($21.8317/MMBtu for SNGPL and $23.7873/MMBtu for SSGC) since Pakistan began importing LNG in 2015. The new rates likely comprise fees for LNG terminals, port costs, and the margins of the state-run importers Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL).