The domestic natural gas prices have been hiked by a record 40 per cent on October 1, 2022. The natural gas prices now stand at $8.57 per mBtu on gross calorific value for the second half of 2022-23, as compared to $6.1 mmBtu in the April -September 2022 period.
The Petroleum and Analysis Cell has also revised the gas ceiling price for extracting the key commodity from challenging fields — deep water, ultra-deep water and high pressure-high temperature fields by around 25 per cent to $12.46 per million British thermal units (mBtu). The prices have been raised primarily on account of the uptick in international prices.
This is the highest price for procuring natural gas in the country since the government introduced the New Domestic Gas Pricing Guidelines in November 2014. The previous high in gas price was recorded in April-September 2022-23 period at $6.10 per mmBtu. Before this, the highest price was reported for the November 2014-March 2015 period at $5.05 per mmBtu.
According to the industry, prices of compressed natural gas are likely to be hiked by Rs 8-12 per kg and that of gas piped to household kitchens by over Rs 6 per unit on account of the natural gas price hike.