KARACHI, Jan 15: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) has increased the petrol price by Rs1.70 per litre, besides raising the prices of all petroleum products by 84 paisa to Rs1.75 per litre.
The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and the Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL), enjoying 70 and 30 per cent market shares, respectively, have also increased the rate of diesel by Rs1.07 from Rs 22.78 to Rs23.85.
The ex-depot fixed sales tax price of petrol has been fixed at Rs35.48 from Rs33.78 per litre, up by 5.03 per cent. The new prices will be effective from Jan 16 till 31.
The new price of HOBC and kerosene oil have been adjusted at Rs39.42 and Rs23.22 as compared to Rs37.67 and Rs22.38 per litre, respectively. The price of light diesel oil (LDO) has been enhanced to Rs19.62 from Rs18.63 per litre.
The OCAC, in a statement, linked the price hike to the continued upward trend of oil prices in the world markets due to drop in the distillate stocks in the US and geo-political situation in the Middle East.
Consequently Light Arabian Crude increased by 2.15 per cent in comparison with the last fortnight, currently staying at $30.28 per barrel. In tandem with crude price, the product prices also registered increase, naphta by $31.77 per ton or 9.9 per cent followed by kerosene by $1.79 per barrel.
The OCAC as well as oil marketing companies had kept the prices of all petroleum products intact in the last fortnight without giving any reason. However, an increase in domestic oil products on Dec 31, 2003, was imminent owing to continued upward trend in oil prices in the international market.
