LPG price in Pakistan: minister blames Iran border closure as cylinders cross Rs7,000

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik told the National Assembly on Monday, 26 October, that the closure of the Pakistan-Iran border is one of the main reasons LPG has become so expensive. He said the government is now trying to bring gas in by sea, Dawn reported on Tuesday.

For families who cook on cylinders, that explains the bill but not yet the relief. OGRA’s official rate is about Rs280 a kg. Lawmakers told the House that people in remote and northern areas are paying Rs700 to Rs800.

Why is LPG so expensive right now?

The minister gave the House two numbers that explain most of it. Between 50 and 60 percent of Pakistan’s LPG came from Iran, he said, and the rest from Qatar. The Qatar supply has been suspended because of the US-Iran war, according to Malik, and the Iran route was cut when the border closed.

The Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings in Balochistan were shut on 17 October. The Balochistan government said the move was about security and smuggling; Iran’s foreign ministry called it a technical issue, Reuters reported. The Pakistan LPG Association told Reuters the country was importing around 7,000 tonnes of LPG a day from Iran, more than 4,000 tonnes of it through Gabd-Rimdan alone.

Within days, a 12kg cylinder went from about Rs4,500 to Rs7,000, traders told Reuters. The agency found it at roughly Rs7,500 in Lahore and Rs8,200 in Skardu. A Lahore resident said he used to pay Rs250 a kg and now pays Rs500 to Rs600.

What lawmakers said in the National Assembly

The issue came up through a calling attention notice on “unprecedented” LPG prices, moved by MNAs Aliya Kamran, Shahida Begum and Naeema Kishwar Khan. Kamran pointed out that LPG is the main fuel wherever there is no piped gas, and that both demand and prices climb in winter. Naeema Kishwar Khan asked why trade with Iran through the border had been stopped at all.

Malik agreed the official price is Rs280 a kg, then added an uncomfortable admission: even when supply is plentiful, gas is not sold at the government rate. He said the whole system is under review and that there is a policy to buy gas from other countries.

Is the border open again?

Only partly, as far as we could confirm. Reuters reported that Gabd-Rimdan reopened last week for Pakistani perishable exports, while LPG imports stayed halted and hundreds of trucks were stranded on both sides, according to the former head of the Gwadar chamber of commerce. The minister’s plan to bring LPG by sea suggests the government is not counting on the land route coming back quickly.

What it means for your kitchen

Three things to keep in mind:

• The official price is not the shop price. Ask for the OGRA-notified rate; the regulator publishes it every month on its website.
• Winter makes it worse. Demand rises from November, so prices rarely fall fast even after supply returns.
• A new rate is due. OGRA normally announces the November LPG price in the last days of October. If it rises, expect shops to add their own margin on top.

We shared ways to stretch a cylinder in our LPG-saving kitchen guide. The number to watch this week is OGRA’s November rate, and whether the first sea cargoes bring cylinder prices in Quetta, Lahore and Gilgit-Baltistan down.