KARACHI: The Pakistani government is expected to announce a cut in petrol price today for a second time this month after a decline in the ex-depot price of gasoline.
Well-placed sources in the industry, however, said that the price of diesel would likely jump by Rs5 per litre in today’s fortnight’s review of its price that would go into effect from June 16.
While for petrol, the price would likely go down by Rs3-5 in the fortnight review in case the government kept the exchange rate adjustment at zero.
According to the working of the industry, the ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has been estimated to register an increase of Rs3.29 per litre to Rs256.29 per litre from Rs253 per litre.
Well-informed people in the industry said that in the last review of prices, the government had adjusted only Re0.13 on the diesel price. If it is adjusted to Rs3-4 in today’s review, the price may go up by Rs5 per litre.
The calculations showed that the ex-depot price of petrol is declining from Rs1.87 per litre to Rs260.13 per litre from Rs262 per litre. Likewise, the ex-depot price of light-speed diesel may register Rs2.48 to Rs150.16 from Rs147.68 per litre.
The price of kerosene may witness an increase of Rs2.10 to stand at Rs166.17 from Rs164.07 per litre in the next fortnight.
According to the sources, the exchange rate is also showing an upward trend for the next review of prices as it has gone up by Rs0.63/litre to Rs286.69 from Rs286.06/litre against the dollar.
They stated that the working of the industry was provisional, and whether the government would go with the actual difference in the prices of petroleum products or it would adjust the prices, could only be known once the government made its final decision.
When asked about the Russian crude oil import and its impact on the prices of petroleum products in the next fortnight, they stated that it would not have any impact on today’s review of prices as it was recently shipped to Pakistan, and the processing of this crude started on Wednesday.
Refined products from Russian crude oil would reach the market in two weeks. However, they said that even after the supply of these products, the market might not see any substantial impact on the domestic prices because of the low quantity against its consumption in the country.
They noted that even after the arrival of the second cargo on June 20, it would not have any impact on consumer prices until the share of Russian crude oil goes over 30% in total import of crude oil.
