Prices of petroleum products up by 7%


Irshad Ansari April 30, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday increased oil prices by 7 per cent on the back of an increase in oil prices in the international market. According to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the new prices will be effective from mid-night on Friday.

The price of petrol has been increased by Rs1.94 per litre, HOBC by Rs1.63 per litre, kerosene oil by Rs4.08 per litre, LDO by Rs3.56 per litre, HSD by Rs3.41 per litre, JP-1 (local) by Rs3.92 per litre, JP-4 by Rs2.44 per litre and JP-8 by Rs 3.93 per litre. The new price of petrol is Rs75.08 per litre, HOBC Rs89.19 per litre, kerosene oil Rs68.89 per litre, LDO Rs65.76 per litre, HSD Rs76.80 per litre, JP-1 (local) Rs58.46 per litre, JP-4 Rs55.54 per litre and JP-8 Rs 58.19 per litre.

The government will continue charging Rs10 per litre petroleum levy (PL) on petrol, Rs8 per litre on HSD, Rs14 per litre on HOBC, Rs3 per litre on LDO and Rs6 per litre on kerosene oil. Justifying the increase in petroleum prices, Ogra spokesman Syed Jawad Naseem told a news conference that the average Arabian light crude oil price had jumped up from $77.12 per barrel to $82.60 per barrel on May 1 which was 7.10 per cent higher than the new domestic prices.

He said that the dealers and OMCs margin was capped at $80 per barrel. Naseem said Ogra had formed an enforcement department to check the prices of petroleum products at the outlets of OMCs. “Except one company, Ogra has imposed fines on all other OMCs for overcharging and products shortage,” he added. Earlier on Friday petrol pumps across southern Punjab had suspended supplies to consumers in an effort to take advantage of the anticipated increase in prices of petroleum products.

Petrol station owners blamed petroleum companies for creating an artificial shortage of petrol across southern Punjab for the past three days. Commuters faced inconvenience, especially with the closure of CNG stations for the past 24 hours. Due to a lack of fuel, public transport came to a standstill and private transport had increased fares on its own.

The authorities did not come to the help of commuters while petroleum companies continued with their dirty game. (Additional input from Wire Services)

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g lin | 13 years ago | Reply expensive!
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