KARACHI, June 30: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) on Sunday revised upward the prices of six petroleum products, from a minimum 40 to a maximum 75 paisa, while keeping the rate of only the JP-1 unchanged.

The increase in prices, which is to remain in force during the fortnight starting July 1, was announced by the relevant committee of the OCAC in its meeting.

It also announced abolition of excise duty on High Speed Level Diesel, Light Diesel and JP-4 with effect from July 1.

After reviewing the fortnightly prices of various petroleum products, the OCAC meeting also decided to reduce the Petroleum Development Levy on the Freight on Board (FOB) products to mitigate the impact (of the raise in prices) for the general public.

It was observed that the international FOB product prices remained stable during the fortnight except in the case of motor spirit, which registered a rise of 2.3 per cent.

Based on the international product prices and applicable government levies, the consumer prices for various products were calculated in accordance with the approved mechanism and were announced accordingly. The significant changes are as under:

* A 5 per cent advalorem import duty plus 1 per cent surcharge has been levied on Kerosene, Light Diesel Oil and JP-4 as announced in the federal budget 2002-03.

* A 10 per cent advalorem import duty has been levied on High Speed Diesel in the federal budget 2002-2003. The distributor margin and dealer margin have been increased by 0.5 per cent and fixed at 3.5 per cent and 4 per cent respectively of the fixed sale prices.

The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) notified the revised ex-depot fixed sale price at 29 designated locations as shown in the chart.—APP