ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: While the government has no plan to provide subsidy on hi-octane, the estimated subsidy on gas would be Rs4.4 billion a month for the current financial year.

The ministry of petroleum and natural resources informed the National Assembly here on Friday that by the end of the last financial year (June 2008), the federal government provided subsidy on hi-octane fuel. Between June 1 and June 21, the government provided a subsidy of Rs4.37 per litre of Hi-Octane.

During the last week of the same month, the government provided a reduced subsidy of Rs0.24 per litre on hi-octane. But, since the start of the current financial year, the government did not provide any subsidy on hi-octane.

The ministry informed that the provision of subsidy on hi-octane depended on the trend of prices in the international market.

The government provided Rs3.186billion per month on gas during the last financial year.

In response to a question about measures taken by the government to control prices of petroleum products, Petroleum Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in his written reply that the government had taken four major steps to control prices of petroleum products.

The formula for fixation of ex-refinery prices has been rationalised for motor spirit and high speed diesel. The oil-marketing companies and dealers’ margins has been capped at the level of $100 per barrel crude oil price. The number of depots for calculation inland freight has been reduced from 29 to 21 — which means that now the government only fixes the petroleum price for 21 locations, while keeping the prices deregulated in the rest of the country.

Except these 21 points, dealers in rest of the country fix price of oil on their own, keeping in view its transportation cost.