LPG sells at Rs570 a kg as winter supply tightens

LPG was selling in Lahore at about Rs570 per kilogram in late October, against a ceiling of Rs308.76 per kg notified by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority in June, Minute Mirror reported, as winter demand rises and the overland routes used for imports from Iran stay shut.

The Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings were closed on October 17, cutting supplies at the start of the heating season, according to the report. Sea cargoes had already slowed earlier in the year when disruption around the Strait of Hormuz affected shipping.

Industry figures put Pakistan's annual LPG demand at about 2 million tonnes, of which roughly 800,000 tonnes is produced locally and 1.2 million tonnes imported. A senior OGRA official said in October that imports cover about 70 per cent of requirements. The government's Annual Plan shows 1.5 million tonnes of imports for 2025-26 against a target of 1.05 million tonnes, and 1.55 million tonnes planned for 2026-27 alongside a domestic production target of 0.75 million tonnes.

Daily figures show the gap. Local production runs at 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes a day against normal consumption of 4,000 to 4,500 tonnes. Peak winter demand passes 6,000 tonnes, and last January it reached a record 7,000 tonnes when a cold wave coincided with low pressure in the piped gas network.

Stocks are thin. The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry's LPG committee said in March that the country held 13 to 14 days of cover, a buffer that cannot absorb a border closure.

Jamshoro Joint Venture told the government in June that OGRA's monthly ceiling, which applies to imported and local gas alike, makes imports commercially unviable. Importers who lose money on a cargo stop ordering, and the gas then reappears on the black market at a higher price, the report said.

Households off the pipeline network, including most of Gilgit-Baltistan, depend on cylinders for cooking and for heating through January. Declining domestic natural gas production is pushing more households towards LPG at the same time as supply tightens.

For comparison, India consumed 33.2 million tonnes of LPG in fiscal 2025-26 and imported 21.3 million tonnes of it. New Delhi diverted refinery feedstock to LPG and set emergency production caps of 63,810 tonnes a day across 21 plants. Afghanistan produces no significant LPG of its own; traders quoted by Reuters put its annual demand at about 700,000 tonnes, all imported, with Russian shipments rising about 1.5 times to 418,000 tonnes in January-November 2025.