The liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices have come down a bit in Tajikistan, at least in Dushanbe, after the sudden spike in early November.
Recall, LNG prices sharply rose in the country in early November. Over the past two days, the price for one liter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Dushanbe has risen on average from 6.20 somonis on November 1 to 7.30 somonis on November 3 (17.7-percent increase), with similar price rises in other parts of the country.
In some regions of the country, there was not only a rise in prices for LNG, but also a shortage of it at many fueling stations in early November, especially in Khatlon province and districts subordinate to the center.
For example, in some districts, fueling stations sold no more than 10-20 liters of LNG per driver so that there would be enough LNG for everyone who was standing in line.
Since more than 60 percent of the country's motor vehicles use liquefied natural gas as fuel, a sudden spike in LNG prices has led to increase in the cost of private passenger and freight transport.
Drivers have accused fuel suppliers and fuel vendors of artificially creating LNG shortages in order to raise its prices.
The suppliers and sellers themselves spoke about the delays in the next consignments of liquefied natural gas resulting from repair work carried out at plants in Kazakhstan, which provides the bulk of Tajikistan’s LNG imports, accounting for about 90 percent of Tajikistan’s LNG imports.
They emphasized that the repair work would be completed within no more than ten days.
However, in recent days liquefied natural gas has appeared at almost all gas stations, at least in Dushanbe, and its prices have started to go down.
Thus, the price for one liter of LNG in Dushanbe fell from 7.00 somonis on November 8 to 6.80 somonis on November 9.
About twenty companies in Tajikistan are engaged in supplying the country with LNG. The share of none of these companies exceeds 20 percent of a total volume of LNG imports.
This year, Tajikistan’s monthly requirements in LNG have been about 35,000 tons.
According to data from the Agency for Statistics under the Government of Tajikistan, LNG prices have fallen on average 15.8 percent over the first nine months of this year.
In December last year, an average price for one liter of LNG in Tajikistan was 7.40 somonis.
