KazMunayGas seeks higher fuel price ceiling
ASTANA. Sept 21 (Interfax) - Kazakh National Company KazMunayGas hopes that the Oil and Gas Ministry will favor its request to increase the ceiling retail price for gasoline.
"KazMunayGas has submitted the request to the Ministry of Oil and Gas for raising retail fuel prices to bring them closer to the level of world prices. Now it's for the government to decide," said the company's First Deputy CEO on Corporate Development Daniyar Berlibayev.
He said the government regulates the fuel retail prices according to the level of the world commodity prices.
"Early in the year, when oil price was up, fuel prices were high as well; when the oil price fell later, the fuel prices followed. Word crude oil prices are on the rise again, but the domestic retail fuel price has not been revised after the last reduction," he added.
KazMunayGas through its subsidiary KazMunayGas Processing and Marketing operates a network of gas filling stations in Kazakhstan.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas sets price caps on retail sales. However, the government exercises no regulation control over wholesale price for petroleum products.
The ceiling prices for retail fuel sales were lowered in Kazakhstan starting from July 1 this year. The State Agency for Natural Monopoly Regulation (ANMR) said earlier that the reduction in ceiling prices was due to the changes in the international Brent oil prices.
The cost of diesel fuel decreased from 95 to 90 tenge per liter, including the VAT; that of 80-octane gasoline from 91 to 86 tenge per liter; 92/93-octane gasoline from 112 to 106 tenge per liter.
The current exchange rate is 149.8 tenge /$1.
