Prime Minister Imran Khan has rejected a proposal to increase the prices of petroleum products.
Earlier on Saturday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) sent a proposal to increase the price of petrol by Rs 7 and diesel by Rs 8 per liter to the Petroleum Division, but the government decided not to increase the price of petrol.
Apart from petrol and diesel, OGRA had also proposed an increase in kerosene and light diesel prices. The authority sent proposals on the basis of Rs. 30 per liter petroleum levy.
The price of petrol includes a petroleum levy of Rs 26.70. Sources said that the price of diesel includes a petroleum levy of Rs 25.73 per liter.
The regulator forwarded its proposal of increasing the prices of petroleum products to the federal government. The prices of petrol and HSD were computed on the basis of present rate of petroleum levy at Rs30 per litre, which is higher than the current Rs26 per litre.
This is the first time that Ogra is determining the price of petroleum products on a fortnightly basis and shifting the Pakistan State Oil’s (PSO) price benchmark to Platts indexes with effect from September 1.
Under the new guidelines of the federal government, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries are determining the ex-refinery prices of petrol and HSD on Arab Gulf Platts’ daily Free on Board (FOB) average for the number of days in the pricing period as the base commodity price.
