Domestic natural gas prices slashed to $9.12 per mmBTu in November

The Union Government has slashed the price of domestic natural gas from $9.20 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBtu) in October to $9.12 per mmBtu in November. The revised prices will be applicable from November 1 to November 30, 2023, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

In October, the government had increased the prices of domestic natural gas from $8.60 per mmBtu to $9.20 per mmBtu and in September, prices of natural gas was increased from $7.85 per mmBtu to $8.60 per mmBtu.

The natural gas price revision is undertaken on a monthly basis as per a new formula adopted by the government. The price is determined on the basis of Indian crude basket rates of the preceding month. The government discarded the earlier method of pricing natural gas by factoring in the one-year average price of the world's four big gas trading hubs – National Balancing Point (UK), Russian Gas, Henry Hub and Albany. Under the earlier method, the domestic natural gas price was fixed for a six-month period.

The government discarded the old pricing formula in April based on the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh committee formed in October 2022.