RLNG Rates Up by 1.3% in May

The government raised the average monthly sale price of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) by up to 17 cents or 1.3 percent for May 2023. On Thursday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) announced its decided RLNG weighted average selling preliminary pricing. It fixed RLNG pricing at $13.3997/mmBtu for SNGPL customers and $13.6569/mmBtu for SSGC customers. This marks a 1.3 percent increase over the previous rate and comes after four months of reductions. The higher price will most likely have a minor influence on electricity generating costs, notably for RLNG-based power plants. RLNG rates for SNGPL customers rose by $0.1681/MMBtu, while Sui SSGC customers saw their prices rise by $0.1768/MMBtu). RLNG prices in May 2023 are 38.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) lower for SNGPL customers and 42.6 percent YoY lower for SSGCL customers compared to rates in May 2022. When compared to the same month last year, the new rates for SNGPL and SSGC were lower. In April 2022, the RLNG price for SNGPL was $15.6165/MMBtu and $16.9101/MMBtu for SSGC customers. Pertinently, the new rates comprise fees for LNG terminals, transmission losses, port costs, and the margins of the state-run importers Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL). These new weighted average sale prices were calculated based on eight cargoes imported by PSO and two cargoes imported by PLL. With the exception of a few months, the nation has been lowering RLNG costs for domestic customers since May 2022. As per research, the RLNG price in the domestic market in May 2022 was the highest ($21.8317/MMBtu for SNGPL and $23.7873/MMBtu for SSGC) since Pakistan began importing LNG in 2015.