ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: The federal government has decided to recover in next six months at least Rs27 billion revenue it lost by freezing petroleum prices in the first six months of the current fiscal year , by selling products at rates higher than international market, it is learnt.

An official of the finance ministry told Dawn on Tuesday that the government has lost about Rs33 billion in maintaining petroleum prices at May 2004 level including Rs8 billion payment in compensation to the oil marketing companies and refineries as price differential.

The government has now decided to recover at least Rs27 billion out of these Rs33 billion besides recovering remaining part of the revenue to meet an overall annual target of about Rs70 billion.

Based on this decision, the government increased petroleum development levy on almost all petroleum products on December 31, 2004, which increased local prices despite a significant fall in international rates.

The government is estimated to earn Rs576 million in the fortnight ending on January 15, 2005 and total benefit to the government during the period December 15, 2004 to January 15, 2005 would amount to Rs1.09 billion.

The international prices of petrol, HOBC, kerosene and HSD dropped by 67 paisa, 68 paisa, 14 paisa and 45 paisa per liter during the fortnight ending on December 31, 2004.

The government however, increased the prices of petrol, HOBC, kerosene and HSD by 89 paisa, 86 paisa, 54 paisa and 25 paisa per litre in the domestic market. In this way, the government is earning Rs1.56 per litre on petrol, Rs1.54 per litre on HOBC, 68 paisa per litre on kerosene and 70 paisa on HSD.

Official statistics available with Dawn suggest that prices of petrol in the fortnight ending December 31, 2004 reduced by 67 paisa per litre in the international market but its prices increased by 89 paisa per litre in Pakistan. In this way real increase in its price was Rs1.56 per litre.

The PDL on petrol, which was 92 paisa per litre before December 31, has now been fixed at Rs1.38 per litre. Dealer commission on petrol has also been increased from Rs1.58 to Rs1.61 per litre, followed by distribution margin from Rs1.30 to Rs1.33 per litre and GST from Rs5.15 to Rs5.27 per litre.

The prices of HOBC (High Octane Blending Oil) dropped by 68 paisa per litre in the international price in the last fortnight but its local price was increased by 86 paisa per litre. Hence, the real increase was Rs1.54 per litre.

The PDL on HOBC was increased from Rs1.13 to Rs1.37 per litre, dealer commission from Rs1.75 to Rs1.78 per litre, distribution margin from Rs1.53 to Rs1.56 per litre and GST from Rs5.70 to Rs5.82 per litre.

The international prices of kerosene dropped by 14 paisa per litre in the fortnight ending on December 31 but its domestic prices were increased by 54 paisa per litre and the real increase was 68 paisa per litre.

The PDL on kerosene was increased from 70 paisa to Rs1.30 per litre, dealer commission was increased from zero to two paisa per litre and GST was increased from Rs3.33 to Rs3.39 per litre.

The prices of High Speed Diesel declined by 45 paisa per litre in the international market but was increased by 25 paisa per unit and thus the real increase was put at 70 paisa per litre.

Its PDL was increased from zero to 65 paisa per litre and GST from Rs3.39 to Rs3.42 per litre. The dealer commission and distribution margin on HSD was nominally increased by one paisa per litre each.

The prices of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) increased by 17 paisa per unit and its local prices were increased by 51 paisa per litre on December 31, showing a real increase of 34 paisa per litre.

The PDL on LDO was increased from zero to 25 paisa per litre, dealers commission remained unchanged at 78 paisa while GST increased by seven paisa to Rs2.99. The international prices of JP-4 reduced by 44 paisa per litre in the international market but the government reduced its local prices by 51 paisa per litre, to provide a discount of 14 paisa per litre to defence authorities.

The prices of JP-1 declined by 14 paisa per litre in the international market and its local prices were reduced by 16 paisa per litre to provide a two paisa per litre relief to the aviation industry.