ISLAMABAD: Rejecting partly the summary submitted by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the government decided on Saturday to keep the prices of most petroleum products unchanged for the month of June. The decision would cost the government about Rs1.76 billion.

After the government’s decision, the price of petrol will remain at Rs107.97 per litre. The price of kerosene has, however, been reduced by 67 paisa to Rs97 per litre, as per the Ogra summary.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to pass on to the users the increase in international market of the prices of furnace oil.

The prices of light sulphur furnace oil and high sulphur furnace oil have been increased by around Rs3,000 per tonne.

As a result, the price of furnace oil for the next fortnight will be between Rs75,000 and Rs88,000 per tonne.

An official of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said there had been a minor increase in the international market of around $9 per tonne in the price of petrol and $2 per barrel in that of diesel.

A barrel of diesel has about 159 litres and one tonne of petrol 1,359 litres.

“Though it looks like a very small amount but when translated into rupees the increase for diesel comes to about Rs1.8 per litre after adding the overheads,” the official added.

The monthly consumption of petrol in the country is around 380,000 tonnes.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014