Islamabad, November 3,2026: Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has assured the public that the government will make all-out efforts to ensure adequate availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the upcoming winter, as supply disruptions caused by the closure of Iranian border crossings have pushed prices in the open market to nearly twice the official rate.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Malik said the government was exploring alternative arrangements, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, to meet rising domestic gas demand during the peak winter months.
Acknowledging the difficulties faced by consumers, particularly those dependent on LPG for cooking and other household needs, the petroleum minister said the government would arrange fuel for the piped gas network, even at higher international prices, if necessary, to meet domestic requirements.
He assured consumers that the government would make every effort to maintain piped gas supplies during the three daily meal timings, while LPG would continue to be required for households without gas connections and other users, including transport operators.
Malik said the country’s total annual LPG demand stood at approximately 2.4 million tonnes, translating into 6,500 to 7,000 tonnes daily. Domestic production accounts for around 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes per day, depending on the type of crude oil processed, while a substantial portion of the remaining requirement had traditionally been met through imports from the western border.
However, disruptions in supplies through the Iranian border have created difficulties, allowing some market players to exploit the situation. He said LPG was being sold at Rs700 to Rs800 per kilogramme in the open market.
The minister said the country had two major LPG terminals, operated by Engro and SSGC LPG, with combined storage and terminal capacity of around 14,000 tonnes.
He added that the government was working on a mechanism similar to the recently introduced arrangement in the petroleum sector to improve LPG affordability and ensure uninterrupted supplies.
Discussing fuel prices, Malik said international oil markets had closed lower and expressed optimism about further relief in the upcoming revision of petrol and diesel prices.
He recalled that a new arrangement requiring oil refineries to bear a cumulative monthly impact of Rs15 billion towards the petroleum levy had enabled a reduction of Rs14.71 per litre in petrol prices for consumers.
The minister said the government was also examining ways to introduce a similar approach in the LPG sector.
He noted that LPG prices were linked to international benchmarks, with Saudi oil giant Aramco announcing monthly contract prices (CP), while the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) subsequently notified domestic rates.
Malik explained that OGRA had recently increased the LPG price following Aramco’s announcement of a contract price of $756 per tonne, compared with $540 per tonne in March.
He stressed that the government could not sell imported fuel at prices substantially below international market rates and said the objective was to ensure fair pricing while improving competition and availability.
Explaining the structural challenges in the LPG market, the minister said the existing pricing mechanism under the 2016 LPG policy was based on the Free on Board (FOB) price notified by Aramco. While this arrangement had worked when domestic production met a larger share of demand, it did not adequately account for import costs as the country’s reliance on imported LPG increased.
He said imports now accounted for around 70 per cent of the country’s LPG requirements, adding that the existing system had encouraged some market participants to turn towards informal channels rather than formal imports.
The government had therefore decided to open the sector to greater competition, facilitate imports at competitive prices and improve the availability of LPG to consumers, he added.
Malik said the government had also directed major state-owned companies, including Pakistan State Oil (PSO), SSGC LPG and Pakistan LNG Limited, to arrange bulk purchases through government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business (B2B) agreements to address market concentration, collusion and cartelisation. He said progress had already been made in this regard.
The minister further highlighted the need to strengthen Pakistan’s overall energy security infrastructure, regretting that successive governments had not given adequate attention to strategic fuel storage, refinery development and the LPG supply chain.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had chaired a meeting on Tuesday and was personally overseeing efforts to develop a comprehensive energy security architecture.
Malik pointed out that the country’s infrastructure was not adequately equipped to handle large-scale imports of refrigerated and cryogenic gas cargoes. He said smaller pressurised vessels were not readily available, while very large gas and crude carriers faced docking limitations. Storage capacity also remained a major constraint.
He added that domestic consumers would receive priority in gas allocation, with the government prepared to introduce necessary curtailments elsewhere to meet increased household demand, which could rise by 400 to 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) during winter.
The minister also said the prime minister had directed the preparation of alternative regasified LNG (RLNG) arrangements for the power sector, adding that the country’s requirements for November were adequately covered.
Speaking on the occasion, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the prime minister had directed the petroleum ministry to formulate a comprehensive plan for ensuring LPG availability during winter and preventing gas shortages during meal timings.
Tarar said the government had abolished the LPG quota system and discretionary practices that had allowed a limited number of market players to benefit from the previous arrangements.
He added that the government had introduced greater transparency and competition in the sector, while OGRA had started publishing relevant details on its website to improve public access to information.
The information minister said the government was pursuing structural reforms to improve market transparency, protect consumers and ensure fuel availability despite supply-side challenges.
