KARACHI, April 30: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) on Wednesday slashed the ex-depot fixed sales price of petrol by 45 paisa per litre, while oil marketing companies (OMCs) curtailed the ex-depot price of diesel by Rs1.05 per litre to Rs20.23 from Rs21.28 per litre.
Except for increase of 23 paisa in kerosene to Rs19.25 from Rs19.02 per litre, the OCAC has reduced the prices of all petroleum products by 31 to 43 paisa per litre. The new prices will be effective from May 1-15.
Oil marketing companies — Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) and Caltex Oil Pakistan (COP) have cut the prices of diesel by Rs1.05 per litre to Rs20.23 from Rs21.28 per litre.
Shell Pakistan, for the continuous second fortnight, made changes in its earlier announcement within three hours by bringing its diesel prices at par with Pakistan State Oil. Shell, in its earlier fax to print media at 5.15 p.m. had fixed the diesel price at Rs20.74, but at 8 p.m. it too reduced the price by Rs1.05 per litre.
The ex-depot sale price of petrol has been fixed at Rs30.13 from Rs30.58, showing a drop of 1.47 per cent. The new price of high octane blending component (HOBC) will be Rs34.17 as compared to Rs34.60, down by 1.24 per cent. The rate of light diesel oil (LDO) has been reduced to Rs16.38 from Rs16.69 per litre.
In a statement, the OCAC said petroleum prices in the Arab Gulf region started declining rapidly for two consecutive fortnights. The average price of naphta during the last fortnight plunged by $6.9 per ton or 3.4 per cent, while the average price of kerosene increased by $0.60 per barrel or 2.4 per cent.
The committee said that it remains to be seen how the prices react in the coming weeks. The average exchange rate of the rupee vis-a-vis the US dollar improved marginally by 0.02 paisa during the fortnight.
The OCAC said that the consumer prices have been reduced substantially since the last few fortnights. The increase in prices occurred when the Iraq crisis had reached its peak and since then, substantial reduction has taken place in view of the decline in global prices.
The Committee has given the comparison of consumer prices effective from March 16 to May 1. In this period, petrol prices have come down by 18.8 per cent or Rs6.96 per litre to Rs30.13 from Rs37.11 per litre. Rate of HOBC has fallen by 17 per cent or Rs6.94 per litre to Rs34.17 from Rs41.11 per litre. Price of kerosene has plunged by 21.8 per cent or Rs5.37 per litre to Rs19.25 from Rs24.62 per litre. LDO prices have been slashed by 21.8 per cent or Rs4.57 per litre to Rs16.38 from Rs20.95 per litre.