ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday announced to maintain the prices of petroleum products at current levels for the next fortnight to provide some relief to the masses.

In a video message telecast on state-run PTV, the minister said the oil prices were on the rise on international markets and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had calculated an increase but the government rejected its proposal.

He announced that the high-speed diesel and petrol would continue to be selling at Rs227.80 and Rs214.80 per litre, respectively, till Jan 15, 2023.

The minister said that Ogra had calculated Rs8.76 and Rs7.96 per litre hike in kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO), but the government kept the rates unchanged at Rs171.83 and Rs169 per litre, respectively.

“The prime minister has taken this decision to maintain the oil prices in the wake of extreme cold as people use kerosene as fuel for heating and cooking,” Mr Dar added.

The minister said that the price differential would be adjusted in the petroleum development levy (PDL), suggesting that revenue collection from oil products would be less during Jan 1-15. On the other hand, the demand for oil products has been declining due to the economic slowdown and is unlikely to show any improvement in January as well, industry sources said.

“Diesel sales fell to 510,000 tonnes in December from 610,000 tonnes in the same month last year, similarly petrol consumption too declined by around 100,000 tonnes to 630,000 tonnes,” a senior official of the petroleum industry told Dawn, attributing the drop to high rates and increased consumption of smuggled Iranian petroleum goods.

Currently, the PDL on petrol has reached its upper cap of Rs50, while on diesel it is Rs35 giving space for the government to increase the levy and keep the prices unchanged.

Meanwhile, Ogra has issued a notification of a reduction in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) price by Rs12 per kg.

Effective from Jan 1, the price of a domestic LPG cylinder will go down by Rs137 while the commercial cylinder will be cheaper by Rs527.

LPG will be available at Rs213 per kg, the domestic cylinder will cost Rs2,411 and the commercial cylinder will cost Rs9,278.

Published in Dawn, january 1st, 2023