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Gas Price
The prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens in the national capital on Saturday were cut by up to Rs 6 - the first reduction in two years - after the government changed the pricing formula of natural gas. CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi will now cost Rs 73.59 per kg, down from Rs 79.56, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the city, said in a Twitter post. Simultaneously, the rates of gas piped to household kitchens, called piped natural gas (PNG), has been cut to Rs 48.59 per standard cubic metre in Delhi from Rs 53.59 per scm, according to IGL. The reduction follows an over 80 per cent increase in prices in two years. CNG prices were hiked on 15 occasions between April 2021 and December 2022. Since April 2021, CNG prices have increased by Rs 36.16 per kg, or 83 per cent, according to data compiled by PTI. CNG prices were last hiked on December 17, 2022. Similarly, PNG rates have increased by 10 times ..
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a new formula for pricing of natural gas and imposed cap or ceiling price to rein in runaway prices of CNG and piped cooking gas. Natural gas produced from legacy or old fields, known as APM gas, will now be indexed to crude oil price instead of pricing it based gas prices in surplus nations such as the US, Canada and Russia, Union I&B Miniser Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet. From April 1, APM gas will be priced at 10 per cent of the price of basket of crude oil that India imports (Indian basket of crude oil). The rate such arrived at however will be capped at USD 6.5 per million British thermal unit as against current gas price of USD 8.57 per mmBtu. The price such arrived at will also have a floor of USD 4 per mmBtu. Rates will be decided every month instead of current practice of bi-annual revision, he said.
A government-appointed gas price review panel, led by Kirit Parikh, is recommending a floor and ceiling price for natural gas produced from legacy fields of state-owned firms for five years to help moderate CNG and piped cooking gas rates. State producers Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will be paid a minimum or floor price of USD 4 per million British thermal unit and a cap or ceiling price of USD 6.5 as against the current rate of USD 8.57, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The report, which calls for not tinkering with the existing pricing formula for difficult fields such as KG-D6 of Reliance Industries and bp plc, is under finalisation and may lower the ceiling price for ONGC gas marginally. The floor and ceiling price will be applicable for five years although the initial thought was to keep it for three years, they said adding the ceiling price will have an annual escalation clause. The escalation being suggested is USD 0.
German officials have agreed on the main details of a plan to provide up to 200 billion euros ($198 billion) in subsidies to households and businesses to ease the strain of high gas, electricity and heating prices. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the governors of Germany's 16 states agreed Wednesday on a two-stage plan to tackle high gas prices that largely mirrors the recommendations last month of an expert panel. Some other European Union countries think the move by the 27-nation bloc's biggest economy should have been coordinated with them and have expressed concern that it could push up prices elsewhere. Scholz has repeatedly defended the plan, insisting that Germany is showing solidarity with the rest of Europe and its programme is similar in scope to other countries'. Scholz's Cabinet agreed that the state will take on the cost of gas customers' monthly bill in December. That will be followed by a price subsidy for part of what households use starting in March and through April 20