Cut in petrol price by Rs5.50, diesel by Rs11.06/ litre likely from Aug 1

ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to reduce the price of petrol by Rs5.50/litre and diesel by Rs11.06/litre from August 1, 2024, for the next fortnight, the government and industrial sources told The News.

The price of kerosene is projected to go down by Rs5.84 per litre and Light Diesel Oil (LOD) by Rs5.07 per litre.

“This relief in POL [petrol, oil, lubricants] prices is being attributed to the $1.50 per barrel reduction in premium by Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) on diesel and less demand for POL products by the world’s best biggest economies i.e. USA and China,” said the sources.

The new sale price of petrol is likely to be Rs270.10/litre from August 1, 2024, from the existing price of Rs275.60. Similarly, the new price of HSD (high speed diesel) is likely to be fixed at Rs272.57 from the existing price of Rs283.63 per litre. The kerosene price may be set at Rs177.87 per litre from Rs183.71 per litre and LDO (light diesel oil) to be at Rs161.18 per litre from Rs166.25 per litre.

However, sources said if the government makes its mind to increase the petroleum levy by Rs5 per litre on petrol and diesel each, then the relief could be reduced to Rs0.50 per litre in petrol price and Rs6.06 per litre in diesel price.

For the last two fortnights starting from July 1 and ending July 31, the petrol price was jacked up by Rs17.44 per litre and diesel Rs15.74 per litre.

The internal freight margin on petrol stands at Rs7.79 per litre and HSD Rs4.51 per litre. However, the premium on petrol stands at $8.48 per barrel and on HSD at $5 per barrel.