In times of peril: ‘Petrol prices up 47% in four-year period’

Government continued to increase petroleum product prices, despite downfall in international markets between 2008-2011


Express January 03, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Consumers have borne a whopping 47 per cent increase in the prices of petroleum products under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government, lawmakers were told on Monday.

“The government increased Rs33 per litre in petroleum prices,” Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Dr Asim Hussain informed the National Assembly in a written reply.

The minister acknowledged that government continued to increase petroleum product prices, despite the severe downfall in oil prices on the international market between 2008 and 2011.

“It’s the highest ratio of inflation in petroleum products after 2001 which has pushed poor people out onto the streets,” said Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Syed Asif Hasnain.

“Oil prices were increased by 32% in 2011 alone,” Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Resources Engineer Muhammad Tariq Khattak informed the lower house. Currently, he noted, the government is not giving any subsidy on petroleum products to consumers.

In response to hard-hitting questions by lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza on Monday revived a committee to take up the issue of sky-rocketing oil prices.

Last year, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had constituted a parliamentary committee on energy headed by Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh to develop proposals for the resolution of the energy crisis, including power generation. Later, Sheikh constituted two sub-committees to tackle the issues of energy and petroleum products. These committees, however, have yet to develop proposals to deal with the energy crisis and petroleum products’ prices.

However, it still remains unclear which of these committee was revived to take up the oil and gas issue.

This committee is also tasked with developing proposals to deal with issues including the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), circular debt, outstanding payments and a sustainable way forward to devise a permanent solution to liquidity issues of the energy sector.

Responding to a question, Khattak said that currently 64,811 barrels of crude oil per day was being produced in the country. “The total consumption of petroleum products in the country is 21 million tonnes. Around 15% of the oil demand is being met locally while the remaining is being imported,” he added.

The government spent $3.13 billion on importing 12,368 metric tonnes of petroleum products from different countries in 2010-11, it was revealed. Pakistan State Oil also arranges approximately 3 million tonnes of diesel annually from the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, stated the minister in his reply.

The government also spent Rs2.45 billion repairing 120 Sui gas pipelines damaged in blasts in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa during the last two years.

To a question posed by MNA Shaheen Iqbal, Khattak answered that the government issued 127 new licences to oil exploring companies during its tenure. “Around 56 new wells have been installed for production of oil and gas in various parts of the country,” he added.

To a supplementary question, Khattak said that 13% of the gas pipelines were registering leakages but measures were being taken to reduce them. He said the old pipes were being repaired to reduce the gas losses.

(Read: Starting Jan 1 - The little gas there is, may cost a lot more)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2012.

COMMENTS (4)

Adi | 12 years ago | Reply

@Nadir, but dont you think that kind of balanced off after the huge fall to $50 per barell in 2008, despite of the fall in Re. value since the arrival of "democracy"

Malik | 12 years ago | Reply

Now this my friends is "best revenge"

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