APM gas price hits $6.75 ceiling

A higher input gas price would squeeze margins of city gas retailers. City gas retailers may choose to raise CNG prices if hike pinches them

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The price of natural gas used for producing CNG for vehicles and cooking gas was raised 5 percent for July, following a surge in oil prices triggered by Israel's military strike on Iran.

As part of the monthly revision, the price of natural gas from legacy fields operated by state-owned companies was increased to $6.75 per million British thermal units, up from $6.41, according to a notification from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry.

$6.75 per mmBtu is the ceiling price for gas from legacy fields, known as APM gas, which accounts for roughly half the input used in producing CNG. It is also utilized in power generation, fertilizer production, and piped directly to households for cooking.

A higher input gas price would squeeze margins of city gas retailers. City gas retailers may choose to hike CNG prices if the increase pinches them.

APM gas price is revised on the first of every month, set at 10 percent of the average import price of crude oil in the preceding month.

But this price is subject to a floor or minimum rate and a ceiling or maximum rate. The ceiling price for 2025-26 is $6.75.

According to PPAC, the price of APM gas for the period from July 1 to July 31, 2025, was calculated at $6.89 per mmBtu on a gross calorific value (GCV) basis. However, the rate will be capped at the ceiling price of $6.75.