Govt likely to jack up prices of petroleum products

The caretaker federal government is likely to increase the price of petroleum products for the next 15 days.

The government may increase the price of high-speed diesel by Rs8 per litre from February 16, subject to premium and exchange rate adjustments.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has paid a premium of $9.43 per barrel on petrol, which has declined to $9.47 per barrel in the last 15 days, and $6.50 per barrel on HSD. The exchange rate adjustment on petrol is estimated at Rs0.50 and on high speed diesel Rs1.70 per litre.

The government may maintain the price of kerosene and increase the price of light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs2.50 per litre.

The price of high-speed diesel will increase from Rs285 to Rs293 per litre while the price of petrol may remain at Rs272 89 per litre.

The calculation for the 15 days starting from February 16 is based on the current rate of Petroleum Levy (PL) and General Sales Tax (GST).

The price of Brent in the world market increased from $81.55 per barrel to $83 per barrel from February 1, while HSD rose by about $3 per barrel.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) is yet to work on the proposed fuel prices for the first half of February.