April 1, 2003	Tuesday	Muharram 28, 1424

KARACHI, March 31: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) has slashed the prices of petrol by Rs3.84 per litre besides reducing prices of all products by Rs2.31 to Rs3.79 per litre. The new prices will be effective from April 1-15.

Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) and Caltex Oil Pakistan Limited (COPL) — have also cut the prices of diesel by Rs1.40 to Rs24.53 from Rs25.93 per litre.

The ex-depot fixed sales price of petrol has been lowered at Rs33.27 from Rs37.11 per litre, while the high octane blending component prices have been decreased to Rs37.32 from Rs41.11 per litre, down by 9.22 per cent.

The new rates of kerosene oil and light diesel oil (LDO) have been curtailed to Rs21.06 and Rs18.64 from Rs24.62 and Rs20.95 per litre respectively.

OCAC, in a statement, said that the international prices of most petroleum products declined rapidly as war started in Iraq on the premise that it would end in a very short duration. With the prospects of a quick end to the war diminishing after the first few days, prices again started their upward trend.

However, the FOB average prices fell sharply in comparison to the previous fortnight. The average price of naphtha declined by $77.95 per ton or 23.8 per cent, while the average price of kerosene decreased by $8.44 a barrel or 22.4 per cent. In comparison to the previous prices, the average price of Arabian Light crude oil fell by $4.95 a barrel or

15.9 per cent. The Committee, however, did not mention about the prevailing rate of Arabian light crude oil in the fortnight as compared to the previous fortnight.

The average exchange rate of the rupee vis-a-vis the US dollar improved marginally by Rs0.14 during the fortnight. It remains to be seen how the prices are going to react in the coming weeks and therefore the current price decrease may not be sustainable.