Petrol Down to Rs369.06 and Diesel to Rs391.52 From Today

Photo: Express Tribune (Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar at the press conference in Islamabad)

Petrol is down again from today, Wednesday 4 November, to Rs369.06 a litre, and high speed diesel is down to Rs391.52. The government cut petrol by Rs5.45 a litre and diesel by Rs3.68, the second price change in two days, after telling people earlier on Tuesday to expect more good news on fuel prices.

Aaj News reported that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority issued the new prices on Tuesday, and they take effect across the country from today. The Express Tribune reported the same figures, and said Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik made the announcement with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar at a press conference in Islamabad.

The new prices, set out plainly, are:

• Petrol: Rs374.51 down to Rs369.06 a litre, a cut of Rs5.45
• High speed diesel: Rs395.20 down to Rs391.52 a litre, a cut of Rs3.68

Put the two days together and the drop is clear. On Monday morning petrol cost Rs377.91 a litre and diesel Rs402.96. After the two cuts, petrol is Rs8.85 a litre cheaper and diesel Rs11.44 a litre cheaper than it was then. For a driver filling a 40 litre petrol tank, that is Rs218 less than yesterday and Rs354 less than on Monday morning.

Yesterday's cut was the first step. The government cut petrol by Rs3.40 and diesel by Rs7.76 on Monday, but said at the time that those rates would hold for one day only. This second cut replaces them from today, so the one day rates are already history.

Malik said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had told him to give maximum relief to low income groups, and that the government would pass on any fall in world prices to the public. He said the government had stopped a possible petrol rise last Friday with help from oil refineries. Under a revised pricing setup announced last week, refineries hand over the gap between import prices and ex-refinery prices as a petroleum levy, and that benefit is passed on to buyers at the pump. The refineries will carry about Rs15 billion a month under the setup, which runs for 30 days.

The ministers also spoke about gas for the winter. Malik said the government is working on a plan to keep gas supplies steady through the cold months, and is opening up the market for liquefied petroleum gas, known as LPG, to competition. He said complaints had come in from several cities about LPG being sold for as much as Rs800 a kilogram, and that some sellers had been exploiting buyers. The government has extended Rs130 billion in subsidies under its public relief scheme, he added.

The fuel talks with Jamaat-e-Islami are still running in the background. The government and the party said on Tuesday that talks on the petroleum levy are in their final stage, with more relief on the table for farmers and public transport. No announcement on the levy itself came with today's price cut, so that part is still to come.

For households, the gain is real but modest, and it sits next to the wider relief push. The same government told banks this week to speed up loans for small businesses, farmers and home buyers, part of a run of announcements aimed at easing pressure on ordinary budgets while world energy markets stay unsettled.

Sources

Aaj News: Government cuts petrol, diesel prices

Express Tribune: Govt cuts petrol price by Rs5.45, HSD by Rs3.68 for Nov 4

The Thursday Times: Petrol cut by Rs5.45 to Rs369.06, diesel cut by Rs3.68 to Rs391.52 from November 4

Watch for the next price review, and for whether the levy talks with Jamaat-e-Islami produce a further cut.

#Pakistan #PetrolPrice #DieselPrice #FuelPrices #PakistanNews #BreakingNews #OGRA