OGRA recommends slight reduction in petrol price

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has suggested a reduction of up to 3.4% in prices of petroleum products under the monthly rate revision for December 2019.

The highest price reduction has been recommended for light diesel oil – an industrial fuel – of around Rs2.9, or 3.4%, per litre, according to a summary prepared by Ogra.

Ogra has recommended a cut of Rs2.4, or 1.9%, per litre in the price of diesel, which is primarily used in transport vehicles and benefits the industrial sector as well in transporting import and export goods, especially cement, steel, bricks and others.

However, for the common consumers, Ogra suggested a decrease of only Rs0.25, or 0.2%, per litre in the price of petrol and Rs0.83, or 0.9%, per litre in the price of kerosene oil.

The government charges 17% general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products. Apart from that, petroleum levy is also collected from consumers on the sale of these products.

At present, the government is receiving Rs18 per litre in petroleum levy on diesel, Rs15 on petrol, Rs6 on kerosene oil and Rs3 on light diesel oil.

The previous government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had collected petroleum levy in the range of Rs3 to Rs10 per litre. However, at that time, the GST was higher than the current rate.

Since the GST collection is transferred to provinces, the current federal government, keeping in view its high revenue requirement, has slashed the GST rate and raised the petroleum levy to collect more for the national kitty.

An official said the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) has received the petroleum price revision summary and will forward it to the finance ministry for approval. The government will take decision on Saturday.

If the government accepts the recommendation, petrol price will come down from the existing Rs114.24 to Rs113.99 per litre and diesel price will decrease from Rs127.41 to Rs125.01 per litre.

Similarly, the price of light diesel oil will go down to Rs82.43 per litre from the existing Rs85.33 whereas kerosene oil will cost Rs96.35 per litre compared to the current Rs97.18.

Kerosene is used for cooking purposes, especially in remote areas where liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or pipeline gas is not available.

The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood around $62.9 per barrel in the world market on November 29.