Oil marketing association rejects weekly review of fuel prices

LAHORE: The Oil marketing association has rejected the caretaker government’s move to review the fuel prices on a weekly basis, ARY News reported on Monday.

The chairman oil marketing association in a letter penned to the Ministry of Petroleum and the chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has rejected the weekly fuel prices review.

The OMA stated that weekly fuel price reviews will cost them and add to their misery. The move will create problems for consumers, transport and other sectors, the letter stated.

Earlier, All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association rejected the plan and said the prices of petroleum products cannot be determined every week.

On November 24, the Government of Pakistan decided to revise the prices of petroleum products weekly and sought recommendations from stakeholders and Petroleum Dealers Association regarding its decision to switch the revising of petroleum products pricing from fortnightly to weekly.

In a letter, the government asked the stakeholders to submit “meaningful views/comments, including pros and cons, of switching from fortnightly to weekly pricing, if any, within five working days”.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI-led government in 2020 established a fortnightly pricing mechanism for petroleum products and shift from the price benchmark based on Pakistan State Oil (PSO) oil imports to Platts indexes.