The government may not change the petroleum products prices in the coming month, which as per international trends are expected to increase in the range of Rs 1.4 per litre to Rs 4.5 per litre, it is learnt. According to sources, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) is likely to suggest an increase of Rs 1.4 per litre in petrol price, Rs 1.56 in High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Rs 4.5 per litre in High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) price, while Light Diesel Oil (LDO) and kerosene oil is likely to reduce by Rs 1.28 per litre and Rs 1.35 per litre respectively.
"The government will keep petrol and HSD price unchanged as these products are being used by the masses and transporters and would review the prices of the other products," an official of the Petroleum Ministry said. The official said, "On the basis of our current oil shipments, I can say that a little increase is expected in petrol price, while prices of all other petroleum products will downslide. Keeping in view the government's decision of May 31, I can confirm to you that the government will maintain the petrol price at current level during next month as last month it slashed Petroleum Levy (PL) and did not increase the POL prices so this time the expected reduction in oil prices will be adjusted in PL".
The government during current month on July 1 has also rejected a summary forwarded by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority's (OGRA) seeking increase in the prices of petroleum products for the month of July and decided to maintain the rates by providing a subsidy of Rs 510 million.
Last month, the regulatory body worked out an increase of Rs 0.84 per litre in the price of petrol, Rs 3.63 per litre in the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC), Rs 0.30 per litre in kerosene, Rs 0.27 per litre in high speed diesel and Rs 0.22 per litre in light diesel. It may be mentioned here that the government also provided a subsidy of Rs 1.78 billion to keep petroleum prices unchanged for the month of June, however, kerosene oil price was reduced from Rs 98.07 to Rs 97.40 per litre with a decrease of Rs 0.67 per litre.
At present different petroleum products are being sold on following rates: Petrol at Rs 107.97 per litre, high speed diesel at Rs 109.34 per litre, light diesel oil at Rs 94.13 per litre, HOBC at Rs 134.63 per litre and kerosene oil at Rs 97.40 per litre. On account of Petroleum Levy (PL), the government was collecting Rs 10 per litre on petrol, which on June 1, 2014 reduced to Rs 8.79 per litre, Rs 14 on HOBC which now came down to Rs 11.41 per litre, Rs 6 on kerosene and Rs 8 on HSD per litre which now reached Rs 6.29 per litre. Moreover, the government is also collecting General Sales Tax (GST) at 17 percent on the sale of petrol and petroleum products, which is one of the top revenue sources for the federal government.