ISLAMABAD: The government, through a notification issued on Sunday, increased the price of petrol by Rs1.41 to Rs85.90 from Rs84.49 per litre. The price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) was raised by Rs5.64 to Rs112.52 from Rs106.88 per litre.

The price of kerosene has been increased by Rs1.94 to Rs88.19 from Rs86.25 per litre and of Light Diesel Oil by Rs1.62 to Rs85.33 from Rs83.71 per litre.

The price of CNG was also increased by Rs1.29 per kg. The CNG will now be sold at Rs78.65 per kg in Zone-1 (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Potohar and Balochistan) against its previous price of Rs77.36. In zone-II (Punjab and Sindh), the new CNG price will be Rs71.92 per kg against earlier rate of Rs70.63.

The increase will be effective for the fortnight from July 16 (Monday).

The price of HSD, however, has been left unchanged at Rs97.21 per litre.

Reliable sources told Dawn that in a summary sent to the government on July 12, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended a reduction of Re1 per litre in HSD prices to pass on to consumers the impact of a decline in international prices.

Ogra had also recommended that prices of petrol, HOBC, kerosene and LDO be kept unchanged even though its working paper based on existing pricing formula required an increase of Rs1.96 per litre in petrol price, Rs5.64 in HOBC, Rs1.94 in kerosene and Rs1.62 in LDO.

The working was in line with Ogra’s established exercise of calculating product prices on the basis of previous fortnight — the cut-off date for which is three days ahead of price revision.

This time, Ogra forwarded its price calculation to the government on July 12, but a powerful group of oil marketing companies came into action as two ships carrying petrol and diesel started pumping products at Karachi port.

The ministry of petroleum forced Ogra to revise its calculations on July 13 even though one ship carrying petrol was still in the process of unloading at the port and it was not known at the time how many litres would it actually pump out.

As a result, the diesel price reduction at Rs1 per litre determined by Ogra turned into no change as the latest diesel import was at a higher rate. The petrol price increase calculated by Ogra previously at Rs1.96 per litre, however, came down to Rs1.41 per litre as latest petrol arrival was at a lower rate.

The government is currently charging petroleum levy of Rs10 per litre on petrol, Rs14 on HOBC, Rs6 on kerosene and Rs8 on HSD.

In addition, the government also collects 16 per cent general sales tax on all products that fluctuates between Rs14-17 on various products according to change in prices.

Following is a comparison of old and new petroleum prices.

Product        Old (Rs/ltr)     New (Rs/ltr)      Increase (Rs/ltr        Percent Petrol            84.49        85.90            1.41            1.7% HOBC            106.88        112.52            5.64            5.3% Kerosene        86.25        88.19            1.94            2.2% LDO            83.71        85.33            1.62            1.9% HSD            97.21        97.21            Unchanged CNG (Zone-1)        77.36 /kg    78.65 /kg        1.29 / kg        1.8% CNG (Zone-2)        70.63        71.92            1.29            1.8%