The All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) has deferred its nationwide strike call for two weeks after negotiations with the petroleum minister.

A day earlier, the association announced a nationwide strike from Wednesday night after negotiations with the government over daily petroleum pricing failed.

Addressing the media, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said that after another round of negotiations with the APPPOA, it was decided to defer the strike call after the government assured stakeholders that their grievances would be addressed within the next two weeks.

“From February 28 till today, the government has used around Rs100 billion to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices and initiated a subsidy scheme for the most vulnerable section of the society,” said Malik while referring to the actions taken by the government following the outbreak of the Iran-US war.

“The clouds of war are again building in the region and fuel prices are rising,” said Malik, adding that he discussed the prevailing situation with APPPOA officials and they “supported“ the government in its efforts.

The minister said the country’s top civil and military leadership was in talks with Iranian and US government officials to work towards a resolution of the conflict.

The petroleum minister, referring to the grievances of petrol pump owners, said the issue of dealers’ margins would be resolved through consultations with all stakeholders, adding that a summary in this regard would be submitted to the federal cabinet for consideration.

He further said that the government would review the daily fuel pricing mechanism with stakeholders from the petroleum sector after two weeks.

Last week, the minister announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

During the press conference, Malik said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) would start publishing fuel prices on its website from that day and that a breakup of the same would also be provided in Urdu for the sake of transparency.

Acknowledging the difficulties faced by the oil sector, Malik said the government has committed to resolving their issues over the next fortnight after consultations with Ogra and other stakeholders.

“For some years now, the issue of dealers’ margins has been pending. A progress report and summary will be presented to the cabinet to ensure that those earning honestly can meet their expenses through the margin.”

He assured the association officials present at the presser that they would receive good news within the next two weeks.

“But the rules we are adopting going forward are to bring transparency to the system.”

APPPOA Information Secretary Nadeem Aziz Khan also addressed the press conference, saying that the daily fixing of fuel prices was to happen on a trial basis.

He said that the petroleum minister had promised that the government would fix the prices daily “for two weeks on a trial basis” and review after a fortnight the “merits and demerits” that it brought.

“If it does not cause much difficulty for people, then we will continue it. Otherwise, if there are a lot of difficulties, it will be reconsidered … and we will bring it back to our old routine of (fixing prices) every month or on a fortnightly basis again,” he cited Malik as saying.

The promise, which the secretary said was also made official in writing, came after a “detailed session” with the petroleum minister today discussing the issues faced by the APPPOA. Khan added that Malik promised to sort out these issues within two weeks, thanking him for having taken the association on board and given them his time.

Upon the minister’s assurance, he said, the association was delaying its shutdown call. He expressed his thanks to all the stakeholders that showed commitment to standing with the APPPOA and the dealers in Pakistan for their support.

Khan also noted that the association had made no illegitimate demands, but was demanding a legitimate right that had been halted since 2022. He expressed his hope that the petroleum minister would fulfill his commitments.

After yesterday’s meeting with the government, APPPOA representatives said their hour-long talks over the fuel pricing mechanism had “failed” to reach an agreement and that they were left with no option but to go on an indefinite strike, calling it an issue of survival.

Speaking to the media, Vice Chairman Nauman Ali Butt said the government’s plan to revise petroleum prices on a daily basis was “unacceptable to petrol pump dealers and unworkable”.

He said their main demand was that fuel prices should be determined on a monthly basis, adding that their longstanding demand for an increase in dealer commission had also remained pending, as the commission had remained frozen for the past three years.