01 January 2005	Saturday	19 Ziqa'ad 1425

KARACHI, Dec 31: The Oil Companies' Advisory Committee (OCAC) has increased the ex-depot sales price of petrol by 89 paisa per litre to Rs40.39 from Rs39.50 per litre.

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) have enhanced the price of high speed diesel (HSD) by 25 paisa to Rs26.21 from Rs25.96 per litre.

The prices of the HOBC and kerosene oil have been raised to Rs44.59 and Rs26.04 per litre from Rs43.73 and Rs25.50 per litre, respectively. Light diesel oil (LDO) has become costlier by 51 paisa to Rs22.92 from Rs22.41 per litre. The new prices will be effective from Jan 1-15, 2005.

On Dec 15, the OCAC had increased the prices of various petroleum products by Rs1.36 to Rs2.86 per litre followed by raise in diesel prices by Rs1.59 to Rs25.96 from Rs24.37 per litre.

Officials in the OMCs and refineries are tight lipped in giving a clear picture whether the government has started recovering the petroleum development levy (PDL) or it is still absorbing the loss. Market sources said that the government has started the recovery of PDL from Dec 31, 2004.

However, the OCAC in a statement, said the government, which has taken a budgetary hit of Rs40 billion since May 1, 2004, continued to absorb the loss. The costs not only included the loss to the petroleum development levy (PDL) but also a further subsidy on account of price differential claims of the OMCs and oil refineries.

Though the international prices of petroleum products had eased a little they, nevertheless, continue to remain substantially higher than May 2004. It is in this perspective that a minor correction in POL pricing is being done. The OCAC claimed that the prices of POL products in Pakistan however remained substantially lower than the neighbouring country.