LAHORE: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of Pakistan (LPGAP) on Wednesday urged the government to bring down producer’s price through a policy framework in line with the LPG policy.

It also welcomed the Lahore High Court’s verdict allowing use of LPG as fuel in vehicles.

In a statement chairman Farooq Iftikhar said the association wanted to impress upon the government that countries like Pakistan would be adversely affected if Opec reduces its production.

“The government should encourage LPG usage in automobiles on priority basis so that the dependence on petrol and diesel is reduced,” the statement said.

Iftikhar said the petition against use of LPG as fuel in vehicles was a surprising act of the government.

He said the association had always advocated the use of environment friendly LPG in automobiles as it would not only help the government get rid of the fuel crisis but would also curtail oil import bill, thus reducing the ever widening trade deficit.

He said the association was already supplementing government’s efforts by controlling LPG price as committed by them in a meeting with Minister of Petroleum Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Dec 24, 2014.

“Despite massive demand, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of Pakistan had kept the prices down in the larger interest of the consumers.

“This is despite the fact that the government pricing structure is highly flawed and the high prices of locally-produced LPG is the main reason behind the import of cheap and low grade liquefied petroleum gas,” the association’s chairman said.

He further stressed that the recent hike in the LPG prices was not because of marketing companies but was due to the growing gap between demand and supply.

“Today, the liquefied petroleum gas is being sold on the advertised prices to give relief to consumers,” he asserted.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2015

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