The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) of Pakistan has announced that gas prices would triple, shortly before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decides whether to approve a US$6bn loan to the country. The price increase, the third since the new government took office in August 2018, is expected to ease a more than US$1bn deficit at state-owned gas suppliers Sui Northern and Sui Southern. Pakistan's gas consumers have long benefited from cheap gas from domestic deposits. However, rising gas demand (+17% between 2010 and 2017) has raised more expensive LNG imports.
In addition, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised gas prices for all types of consumers by 32.8% as of 1 July 2019, in an attempt to help state-owned oil and gas company Petrobangla reducing its massive losses. Petrobangla is currently buying LNG from the international market and selling gas at regulated prices, leading to a growing deficit: the company is losing around US$235m every month. The last gas price increase occurred in 2017, when the BERC raised prices by 11%. Bangladesh's gas consumption is rising rapidly, from 20 bcm in 2010 to nearly 28 bcm in 2017 (+40%). The first LNG import terminal - a 5.1 bcm/year Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) - was commissioned in 2018 and followed by a similar FSRU in April 2019.