ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi informed a parliamentary committee on Thursday that the price of petrol for next month might be reduced by about Rs5 per litre.

At a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, the minister said that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority was working on it.

Chaudhry Bilal Ahmad Virk presided over the meeting which discussed matters relating to the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. Some members of the committee criticised the government for keeping a major share of revenue gains because of substantial decline in oil prices in the international market and passing on only a little of that to consumers.

The minister said the country was facing a serious shortage of gas after Nawab Ali Wasan stated that several areas in Sindh were not getting gas at all.

“The worst sufferer is Punjab where the shortfall is up to 40 per cent, but the situation is also not ideal in Sindh and we have CNG off days there too. Many industries are not getting gas supplies in Sindh,” Mr Abbasi said.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2016