KARACHI, Nov 30: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) has reduced the price of petrol by 6 per cent or Rs1.93 per litre besides reducing prices of other products by 2.88 to 6.28 per cent.

The two leading oil marketing companies (OMCs) have too reduced the diesel prices by 6.4 per cent or Rs1.37 per litre. The new prices will be effective for the period of December 1-15.

The ex-depot sale price of petrol has been fixed at Rs30.25 from Rs32.18 per litre, while the new price of high octane blending component (HOBC) and light diesel oil (LDO) is fixed at Rs34.35 and Rs16.16 per litre as compared to Rs36.65 and Rs16.64 per litre, says an announcement of the OCAC on Saturday.

This is the second cut in oil prices in the last 15 days. The OCAC had slashed the price of petrol by 8.61 per cent besides reducing prices of other products by 1.46 to 7.68 per cent on November 15 due to decline in oil prices by $2.50 a barrel.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which enjoys 60-61 per cent market share, has cut the ex-depot diesel prices by Rs1.37 per litre to Rs20.01 per litre from Rs21.38 per litre. Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) and Caltex have also decreased the diesel price by Rs1.37 per litre to Rs20.01 per litre from Rs21.38 per litre. All the three companies had reduced the diesel prices by 60 paisa per litre on November 15.

The OCAC has, however, made no change in the price of kerosene, maintaining it at Rs18.95 per litre. The statement of OCAC had been silent on the reasons for the decline in prices of oil products.

The Saturday’s announcement of oil prices is the first revision under the Civilian government.

Oil analysts said that the current price cut by Rs1.93 in petrol and Rs1.37 per litre in diesel seems a political move of the Jamali government to win support of masses as the world oil prices had not come down to that extent. Even the rupee has gained a paltry 0.3pc against the dollar in the last fortnight.

“I think the new government has taken a hit on itself by cutting down the petroleum development levy (PDL) this time on various oil products since the revenue collection has been showing some improvement every month,” the analyst said.