CNG price hike declaration today
Thursday, 12 May 2011
M Azizur Rahman
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is going to be costlier, as the energy regulator has decided to announce an increased price of the fuel today (Thursday), to keep it at per with the petroleum prices. "We will announce the CNG price hike Thursday," Chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Syed Yusuf Hossain told the FE Wednesday. The chairman did not disclose the extent of the hike, but said there would be a substantial hike in CNG price. CNG price was raised for the last time in April 2008 from Tk 8.50 per cubic metre to Tk 16.75 per cubic metre. Officials said the state-owned Petrobangla submitted a proposal to the BERC on October 14, 2010 to raise CNG price by around 50 per cent to Tk 24.90 per cubic metre from the current price of Tk 16.75. "CNG price hike is necessary to ensure its rational market price, compared to the prices of other fuels," said Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hussain Monsur. CNG price is much lower than the prices of other liquid fuels, like - petrol, octane and diesel, he added. The BERC held a public hearing over Petrobangla's CNG price hike proposal on March 8. Officials said CNG price in Bangladesh is 35 per cent lower than India and Pakistan. Lower price of CNG has pushed up its consumption abnormally. As a result, a number of vehicles are entering the capital, causing traffic congestion. The cheap CNG has benefited the rich most, as almost all of them have converted their petroleum-run vehicles into CNG-run ones to reduce transportation cost. Besides, the gap between prices of petroleum and CNG discourages use of petroleum products, especially petrol and octane, produced from the condensate output of local gas-fields. The officials also refuted the claim that transportation costs will go up once the CNG price is hiked. They said the CNG-run public transport owners have already raised fares immediately after raising the petroleum prices last week. The government raised fuel prices from May 6 to reduce soaring losses of the state-owned oil companies, and offset the impact of high oil prices in international market on local economy. Following the hike, diesel is now being traded at Tk 46 per litre, kerosene Tk 46 per litre, petrol Tk 76 per litre, octane Tk 79 per litre, and furnace oil Tk 42 per litre.
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is going to be costlier, as the energy regulator has decided to announce an increased price of the fuel today (Thursday), to keep it at per with the petroleum prices. "We will announce the CNG price hike Thursday," Chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Syed Yusuf Hossain told the FE Wednesday. The chairman did not disclose the extent of the hike, but said there would be a substantial hike in CNG price. CNG price was raised for the last time in April 2008 from Tk 8.50 per cubic metre to Tk 16.75 per cubic metre. Officials said the state-owned Petrobangla submitted a proposal to the BERC on October 14, 2010 to raise CNG price by around 50 per cent to Tk 24.90 per cubic metre from the current price of Tk 16.75. "CNG price hike is necessary to ensure its rational market price, compared to the prices of other fuels," said Petrobangla Chairman Dr Hussain Monsur. CNG price is much lower than the prices of other liquid fuels, like - petrol, octane and diesel, he added. The BERC held a public hearing over Petrobangla's CNG price hike proposal on March 8. Officials said CNG price in Bangladesh is 35 per cent lower than India and Pakistan. Lower price of CNG has pushed up its consumption abnormally. As a result, a number of vehicles are entering the capital, causing traffic congestion. The cheap CNG has benefited the rich most, as almost all of them have converted their petroleum-run vehicles into CNG-run ones to reduce transportation cost. Besides, the gap between prices of petroleum and CNG discourages use of petroleum products, especially petrol and octane, produced from the condensate output of local gas-fields. The officials also refuted the claim that transportation costs will go up once the CNG price is hiked. They said the CNG-run public transport owners have already raised fares immediately after raising the petroleum prices last week. The government raised fuel prices from May 6 to reduce soaring losses of the state-owned oil companies, and offset the impact of high oil prices in international market on local economy. Following the hike, diesel is now being traded at Tk 46 per litre, kerosene Tk 46 per litre, petrol Tk 76 per litre, octane Tk 79 per litre, and furnace oil Tk 42 per litre.