LPG price in Pakistan: official rate rises to Rs294 a kg for November, but buyers are paying up to Rs630 and dealers threaten a strike

Pakistan's official LPG price rose to about Rs294 a kilogram on November 1, putting an 11.8 kg domestic cylinder at Rs3,470, but buyers on the open market are paying as much as Rs630 a kilogram, more than double the regulator's rate. LPG associations have also threatened a nationwide shutdown from November 16 over a new pricing formula.

The gap is the real story for families heading into winter. A price on a notification does not help if the cylinder can't be bought at that price.

What a cylinder should cost, and what it does cost

Where you buy	Price per kg	11.8 kg cylinder (approx)
OGRA official price, October	Rs279	Rs3,296
OGRA official price, November	Rs294	Rs3,470
Company-operated franchises	Up to Rs400	Up to Rs4,720
Open market	Up to Rs630	Up to Rs7,434

The franchise and open-market cylinder costs are GlobeHourly's own calculations from the per-kg rates reported; actual prices vary by city and seller.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority said the official increase of Rs14.73 a kg follows a 6.47 percent rise in the Saudi Aramco contract price, its benchmark. The average dollar rate fell 0.12 percent over the month, which offset only a small part of that. In wholesale terms, the producer price went from Rs279,341 to Rs294,075 a tonne.

What the trade says is behind the shortage

Irfan Khokhar, chairman of the LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan, blames the closed Iran border. He said at least 70 percent of Pakistan's LPG comes from Iran and 30 percent is produced locally, and urged the government to act against market manipulation.

Ali Haider, chairman of the Pakistan LPG Marketers Association, also points to the border. He said only about 225,000 tonnes of the country's roughly 1.3 million tonnes a year come from the Gulf, mainly through private importers, and that the ProGas terminal at Port Qasim last imported LPG about seven months ago.

The war between the US and Iran, and the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, have squeezed both routes. Pakistan's piped gas is under pressure too, with Qatar extending force majeure on LNG cargoes just as winter demand arrives.

Why dealers are threatening to shut down

Associations meeting in Karachi rejected what they describe as the government's new pricing formula and gave it 15 days to respond. Haider said officials had decided to apply the rate of sea-imported LPG across the country, which he said could lift prices by 25 to 30 percent. Around 90 percent of supply moves by bowser, he said, and locally produced gas would also become sharply more expensive.

Marketers separately say the private sector was left out of a draft LPG policy now with the prime minister, and have written to Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik warning against reversing deregulation. They have also asked the Karachi commissioner to fix a price of Rs340 a kg. No government response to the strike threat has been reported.

What households can do now

• Check the official figure: Rs3,470 for a domestic 11.8 kg cylinder is the regulator's notified price for November, so anything above it is an overcharge you can question.
• Compare before you buy: Company franchises are charging far less than the highest open-market rates.
• Weigh the cylinder: In a shortage, underfilling becomes more common. Ask for the cylinder to be weighed.
• Plan ahead for November 16: If the strike goes ahead, supply could tighten further in the second half of the month.

OGRA sets the next official price for December. Before then, the date that matters is November 16.