Ogra proposes hike in petrol, diesel prices

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has recommended an increase of Rs2.5 and Re0.5 per liter in the prices of diesel and petrol respectively and of one rupee each in the' prices of kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) for the second half of August 2021.

The final decision would be made by the finance ministry after approval of the summary by Prime Minister Imran Khan. If the government accepts the summary, petrol price will increase from Rs119.80/liter to Rs120.3/liter and of diesel from Rs116.53/liter to Rs119.03/liter, while kerosene and LDO will sell at Rs88.49 and Rs85.67/liter respectively.

A senior official told The News that its seemed the government will not increase the local petroleum products’ prices, as in the international market the Brent price was on the decline and during last one month it had declined by around $7 to current $70 per barrel.

Besides, the government for the last several fortnights has continuously increased local prices.

It is worth mentioning that the government is also charging 17 percent general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products. Apart from it, the government is also collecting petroleum levy (PL) on these products, which is directly taken from the consumers.

For the first half of August, the government had increased petrol price by Rs1.71 per liter and kerosene by Re0.35/liter while the prices of diesel and LDO were kept unchanged.

During July too, the government twice increased the prices. For the first half of July, the government had also increased the petrol price by Rs2 per liter, diesel Rs1.44 per liter, kerosene by Rs3.86 per liter and that of LDO by Rs3.72 per liter.

Then in the second half again, the government raised the petrol price by Rs5.40 per liter, of diesel by Rs2.54 per liter, of kerosene by Rs1.39/liter and of LDO by Rs1.27 per liter.