Petroleum minister says PM Shehbaz has personally requested the refineries to provide relief
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik addresses a press conference alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday. SCREENGRAB
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik said on Wednesday that refineries had accepted the government’s request for a significant reduction in diesel prices and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) would announce a cut of around Rs30-32 per litre after completing its calculations.
“The refineries have accepted the government’s request and decided to make a significant reduction in diesel prices. You will see a significant reduction of Rs30-32 within the next few moments, which OGRA will announce after completing its calculations,” said Malik while addressing a press conference alongside Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Malik said the government was fully aware of the difficulties and hardships being faced by people because of the war and was making every possible effort within its limited resources to ease their burden.
He said the prime minister had directed the government to undertake whatever efforts it could within its limited resources to ease these difficulties.
“Despite being under the IMF programme, the government has used more than Rs100 billion to shield the people from these difficulties. Consultations were held with the provincial governments and, in addition, you have seen the rollout of targeted subsidies,” he said, referring to the measures taken by the government since the beginning of the war in the Middle East.
He assured the public that the difficult period would eventually end and said the government would make full use of whatever fiscal space was available to ensure supplies and provide relief to the people.
Read: PM directs petroleum minister to go to Karachi, negotiate diesel price cut with local oil refineries
Malik also referred to the rising price of diesel around the world, saying the crack margin — the difference between the price of refined products and crude oil — for diesel had once again reached $60-70.
He said the war situation in Russia had also made diesel availability difficult there, adding that even a country that produced its own oil was facing problems.
The minister said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had personally requested the refineries to provide relief in view of the difficulties being faced by the people.
While defending the continued increase in prices, Malik said the government had not abandoned the people, adding that Ogra was a state institution whose primary objective was to ensure public protection while also meeting the government’s legitimate requirements.
He thanked the refineries for supporting the government’s call for a reduction in diesel prices and said he would visit Karachi personally to thank them while adding that he would work with the refineries on all outstanding matters, including upgradation projects that had not been undertaken over the past seven to eight decades.
“Over the next few days, under the prime minister’s leadership, we will undertake work that has not been done in 70 years to strengthen the state of Pakistan. We will upgrade refineries and, in collaboration with friendly countries, operationalise schemes to secure crude oil supplies within our borders. We will address Pakistan’s energy security vulnerabilities permanently for future generations,” he said.
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Addressing the press conference, Information Minister Tarar said the prime minister had chaired a meeting earlier on Thursday and directed that formal negotiations be held with oil refineries to ensure that any available relief was passed on to the people.
Calling the move a gift from the prime minister to the people of Pakistan, the minister said that farmers, goods transporters, and public transport operators use diesel, adding that the negotiations had succeeded because locally produced diesel was available.
He said the Rs32-per-litre reduction would ease the burden on the public and have positive effects. “There will be more good news in the coming days, and this relief will have positive effects on the economy as a whole,” he added.
Last month, the government announced a new pricing mechanism under which petroleum product prices would be reviewed and notified on a daily basis, replacing the weekly pricing mechanism, as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran continued to drive volatility in global oil markets and raise concerns over fuel supplies.
Since then, petroleum prices have continued to rise, with diesel prices increasing by Rs72 per litre and petrol prices by at least Rs24 per litre.
