ISLAMABAD - Announcing a massive cut in price of petroleum products, the government on Thursday reduced the prices of high-speed diesel and petrol by Rs 27.15 and Rs 15 per litre respectively for the month of May.
“The Government is extending maximum relief to the public. Relief Packages include Economic Stimulus Package, Ehsas Emergency Relief Programe, Incentive Package for SMEs and many other relief measures. The latest one is the considerable decrease in the prices of various petroleum products ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 30 to further facilitate the public,” said a statement issued by the Finance Division.
Partially accepting the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) summary regarding the price reduction the government has decreased the price of Superior Kerosene Oil by Rs 30.01 per litre and Light Diesel Oil by Rs 15 per litre. Similarly, the price of HSD was decreased by Rs 27.15 per litre and petrol by Rs 15 per litre.
Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday had recommended a massive cut of up to 57 percent in the prices of various petroleum products. In a summary moved to the Petroleum Division, Ogra had suggested a decrease of Rs 33.94 per litre in the price of High Speed Diesel(HSD) and Rs 20.68 per litre in the price of Petrol for the month of May.
The highest decrease of Rs 44.07 per litre or 56.9 percent was recommended in the price of Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO) followed by Light Diesel Oil where a reduction of Rs 24.56 or 39.3 percent had been proposed. For High Speed Diesel and petrol, the proposed reduction is 31.6 percent and 21.4 percent respectively. Ogra has calculated the prices on the basis of Rs 24.20 per litre Petroleum Levy on High Speed Diesel, Rs 18.90 per litre on Petrol, Rs 6 per litre on Superior Kerosene Oil and Rs 3 per litre on Light Diesel Oil (LDO).
However, instead of providing full relief to the consumers the government has further jacked up Petroleum Levy on petroleum products. For the month of May, the government will charge Rs 30 per litre PL on HSD, Rs 23.76 on Petrol, Rs 18.02 on SKO and Rs 11.18 on LDO.
During the previous PML (N) government, the petroleum levy was in the range of Rs3 to Rs10 per litre. The POL prices also include the Standard General Sales Tax(GST) rate of 17 percent.
After reduction the price of high-speed diesel will come down to Rs 80.10 per litre from the existing price of Rs 107.25 per litre. With the reduction of Rs 15 per litre the petrol price has come down to Rs 81.58 per litre form the current Rs 96.58.
With the reduction of Rs 30.01 per litre the price of kerosene oil has come down from the current Rs77.45 to Rs47.44 per litre.
Similarly, after the decrease of Rs 15 per litre the price of Light Diesel Oil has come down to Rs 47.51 per litre from the current Rs62.51 per litre. HSD is used as a fuel by heavy vehicles, LDO is used in industries, petrol is consumed by cars, motorcycles and small vehicles, while the Kerosene Oil is used for cooking purposes, especially in remote areas where LPG or pipeline gas is not available.
In August 2018, the Brent oil price was $75.5 per barrel and in Pakistan HSD was Rs112.94 per litre, petrol Rs 95.24 per litre, Kerosene Rs 83.96 and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) Rs75.37 per litre. The international Brent oil has lost almost 75 percent value and is currently hovering in the range of $22 to $16 per barrel.
However, in Pakistan the public was kept deprived from the fruits of lowering international crude oil price and they were provided only partial relief.
On March 24 the federal government had reduced the prices of all petroleum products by Rs 15 per litre and also kept the prices of POL products unchanged for the month of April.
