The new domestic natural gas pricing, to be applicable from April 2014, is likely to be in the range of $7-8 per million metric British thermal unit (mmbtu), Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae said Sunday.

“It would be a weighted average of international prices between January to December 2013. We would come out with the exact pricing by March 15. It may be in the range of $7-8 per mmbtu,” Rae told reporters here at the ministry-supported Petrotech 2014 conference organised by state-run explorer ONGC.

The government Friday notified the new pricing formulae for all natural gas produced in the country based on suggestions by the Rangarajan Committee on gas pricing.

Natural gas from April will be priced at an average price of liquid gas (liquefied natural gas or LNG) imports into India and benchmark global gas rates. This formula will be applicable for five years till March 31, 2019.

  natural gas, price $7-8 a unit