ISLAMABAD - The government on Tuesday increased petroleum products tariff by 10 to 15 per cent besides reducing gas prices nominally by 2 to 4.46 per cent except for fertilizer feedstock gas that went up by 7.84 per cent. According to a notification issued by OGRA after Tuesday midnight, the new prices would be effective from today (July 1, 2009) till the end of this month. OGRA issued a separate notification for gas prices revision. The gas prices notified by the OGRA would be effective from July to December 2009. The government revised petroleum products prices under its monthly review besides adjusting the introduction of carbon tax in place of petroleum development levy. At the same time the gas prices were marginally slashed as part of six monthly reviews, adjusting the domestic tariff to international crude oil movements. According to officials of Petroleum Ministry, the petroleum prices went up due to adjustments of crude oils resurrection in the last couple of months while the impact of carbon tax rather contained the amount of increase. They explained that the petroleum development levy in the last prices amounted to Rs 10.54 per litre while carbon tax is Rs 10 per litre on the supreme petroleum. Therefore, the officials maintained that the carbon tax would have its ruthless impact when the international crude price would cross the level of $75 a barrel. Unlike its predecessor petroleum development levy that was flexible in terms of its rates, the carbon tax would stay at its flat rates, they added. The latest changes in the prices of petroleum products have changed their history in Pakistan as for the first time High Speed Diesel (HSD) has been priced more than the supreme petroleum. Traditionally diesel used to sell roughly half the price of petrol before 2001 when the government linked domestic prices to the international ones. According to the officials, it was not the latest but a longstanding demand of the international financial institutions to bring prices of all the competitive fuels including gas, petrol, and diesel at a level equivalent to each other in a universal fuel parity. According to the revision, the supreme petroleum would go up from Rs 56.21 a litre to Rs 62.13 per litre with an increase of Rs 5.92 or little more than 10 per cent. Commoners fuel namely the Kerosene oil has also been jacked up from Rs 51.87 per litre to Rs 59.35 a litre after increase of Rs 7.48 per litre. Light-speed Diesel (LSD) would go up from Rs 48 per litre to Rs 54.94 after increase of Rs 6.94 a litre while high-speed diesel (HSD) has also gone up by the same amount to Rs 62.65 per litre. The HOBC faced highest increase of Rs 8.5 per litre to go up from Rs 70.28 to Rs 78.78 per litre. On the other hand, the officials told The Nation that government had decided to decrease the prices of gas for domestic consumers by only 2 per cent. In a bid to protect the industry, the government has given a relief of 4.46 per cent to industrial consumers just like the commercial and power sector all of which have been clubbed in one category. Startling was the increase of 7.84 per cent in the feedstock gas for fertilizers. Officials explained that price for fertilizer feedstock gas has gone up due to withdrawal of subsidy in the budget 2009-10. The government subsidized the fertilizer feedstock gas since 1961 until 2001 when it first time started subsidy withdrawal gradually.