Govt cuts petrol price by Rs3.40, diesel by Rs7.76 per litre

Petrol to cost Rs374.51 per litre and high-speed diesel Rs395.20 from November 3; refineries to absorb Rs15 billion monthly burden to cushion consumers against global oil price pressures

Hamid Khan Wazir

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday announced a reduction of Rs 3.40 per litre in petrol prices and Rs 7.76 in high-speed diesel (HSD), providing consumers with a modest relief amid volatility in international oil markets triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Following the revision, petrol will be available at Rs374.51 per litre, while the price of high-speed diesel has been reduced to Rs 395.20 per litre. The revised rates will take effect from Tuesday, November 3, according to a notification issued by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. Earlier, the government had said that oil refineries would bear an additional financial burden of approximately Rs15 billion per month to enable domestic petrol prices to remain Rs15 per litre below the level warranted by international market rates amid the ongoing conflict.

The announcement was made at a press conference in Islamabad addressed by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
“I am grateful to all the refineries that saw the public is in difficulty and, with the government's help, increased their throughput,” the petroleum minister said, adding that the refineries had earned profits from the increased throughput over the past three months.

He said the government had requested the refineries to support consumers during the difficult period and expressed satisfaction that they had agreed to absorb the additional cost. “The Rs15 increase that was coming in petrol prices on Friday, they helped the government with that. Because of that, we were able to maintain the price,” he said.

Petrol is primarily used in private vehicles, small cars, rickshaws and motorcycles, making its price particularly significant for middle- and lower-middle-income households. High-speed diesel, meanwhile, is widely used in heavy transport, agricultural machinery, power plants and industrial generators. Its price directly influences transportation and production costs, with potential knock-on effects on the prices of essential commodities.

Petrol and HSD are the country's major petroleum revenue-generating products, with combined monthly sales running into hundreds of thousands of tonnes. Their consumption is substantially higher than that of kerosene, whose monthly demand stands at around 10,000 tonnes.