ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The government has cut the price of petrol by Rs3 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs4, the third reduction in as many days, with the new rates taking effect on Friday, November 13.
Petrol will now cost Rs332 per litre, down from Rs335, and high-speed diesel Rs360, down from Rs364, according to a press release issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority on Thursday.
OGRA said the new prices had been worked out under the petroleum pricing mechanism approved by the federal government. Since July, fuel prices have been reviewed and notified daily rather than weekly, as the conflict involving Iran keeps world oil markets volatile.
Three cuts in three days
The new rates replace those that took effect on November 12, when petrol was cut by Rs3 and diesel by Rs7, and follow the November 11 reduction of Rs8 on petrol and Rs7 on diesel.
Taken together, the three cuts bring petrol down by Rs14 a litre, from Rs346 to Rs332, and diesel down by Rs18, from Rs378 to Rs360. For a motorcyclist filling a 10-litre tank, that is Rs140 less than on Tuesday. Our guide sets out what the earlier cuts saved per fill-up.
Diesel matters most for freight, buses, and farm machinery, so its price feeds quickly into transport fares and the cost of food. After the first cut, transporters in Lahore and Sargodha lowered fares by up to Rs100 on some routes.
Oil and supply
World oil prices edged higher on Thursday after earlier losses, with Brent crude trading at about $93 a barrel, as tensions in the Middle East and over Russia offset pressure from rising output.
On the supply side, Pakistan State Oil said on Thursday that Kuwait will keep diesel and jet fuel flowing to Pakistan under revised terms.
