ISLAMABAD: All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (APPDA) on Monday put off a strike call after assurance extended by the Petroleum Division that their sale margins would not be adversely affected by the proposed pricing deregulation.

The association had announced a countrywide strike for March 4 over the government’s planned oil price deregulation without consulting with the relevant stakeholders.

A large delegation of petroleum dealers from all four provinces and Azad Kashmir met Petroleum Minister Dr Musadik Malik and Secretary Moin Agha on Monday.

An APPDA leader Noman Butt announced after the meeting that talks with the government were successful, and there would be normal business on Tuesday (March 4) instead of a closure.

He said the minister had assured the dealers that their sale margins would remain unaffected even after deregulation to ensure quality products and better consumer service. The minister agreed that low margins could not guarantee better service and fuel quality.

Mr Butt said the minister also promised to coordinate with all relevant stakeholders to stop or at least smuggling of Iranian oil products, adversely affecting the Pakistani economy and legitimate petroleum businesses.

Earlier, the APPDA had alleged that the proposed deregulation was set to give into complete foreign control the country’s oil market at the cost of Pakistan’s energy security. It had claimed that Pakistan lacked the oil storage capacity required for the free market, and in the given conditions, such a decision, if taken, would be suicidal. Therefore, the government should re-examine the proposal’s strategic ramifications and employment losses before making a final decision.

The APPDA believed that the ‘unfortunate decision’ of deregulation would disrupt the entire supply chain from top to bottom and eventually give a strong foreign player a monopoly on the Pakistani oil market.

The association had been advocating that Pakistani oil refineries would have no choice but to close since they lacked the financial capacity to compete with strong foreign players. This would lead to foreign exchange loss to the nation.The dealers also claim that the deregulation of lubricants and HOBC

(High Octane Blending Component) has not benefitted consumers in any way, but it has resulted in a cartelising oligopoly.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2025