Govt slashes LPG prices significantly for August

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Thursday announced a significant reduction in the LPG prices for the month of August.

According to a notification issued by OGRA, the prices of liquefied petroleum gas for the consumers have been lowered by Rs209.24 per 11.8 kg domestic cylinder.

The new consumer price of LPG is Rs2,541.36 per cylinder, down from Rs2,750.60 in July — a decrease of 7.6 per cent.

On a per kilogram basis, the price has been reduced by Rs17.73.

The revised prices will take effect from August 1, 2025, the regulator said.

It said that the drop comes amid a 9.8 per cent decline in Saudi Aramco’s Contract Price (CP), to which local producer prices are indexed.

Despite a marginal 0.38 per cent uptick in the US dollar exchange rate, the overall effect has resulted in a notable decrease in both producer and consumer prices.

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Producer prices have also been adjusted downward to Rs174,069 per tonne, reflecting a reduction of Rs17,733 compared to the previous month.

The corresponding producer price per domestic cylinder has been set at Rs2,054.02, down from Rs2,263.26.

Utility stores shut down

In a disturbing development for the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) employees and the low-income househols, the federal government officially ceased the operations of the corporation across the country.

According to the notification issued, all sales and purchase activities at utility stores across the country have been terminated with immediate effect from July 31, 2025.

The directive also applies to the procurement of goods and inventory handling, with the exception of stock shifting to warehouses, return to vendors, and internal inventory reconciliation.

No official word has yet been issued regarding the future of the USC’s employees, who have been holding sit-in protest in Islamabad against the closure of stores across the country since the proposal was moved by the government.

Additionally, the government had not publicised any alternative plans before shutting down the utility stores to provide affordable essential commodities to economically vulnerable segments of the population.