Government reduces petrol, diesel prices

ISLAMABAD: The federal government announced new petrol and diesel prices for the next fortnight, reducing the prices, ARY News reported.

As per a notification issued here, the price of petrol has been decreased by Re 1 per litre. The new price of petrol has been set at 256.13 per litre.

Similarly, High-speed diesel has also seen a reduction of Rs4 per litre, now priced at 263.95 per litre. The rate of light diesel has been decreased by Rs5.25 per litre to 155.81 per litre.

Additionally, the price of kerosene oil has also been decreased by Rs3.20 to Rs171.65 per litre.

This is the first time this year that petroleum product prices have decreased, after three consecutive fortnight price increases.

These changes come as part of regular adjustments in fuel prices, which are influenced by international market trends and local economic conditions.

In the international market, oil prices settled down on Friday on prospects for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that could ease global supply disruptions by ending sanctions against Moscow.

Brent futures settled down 28 cents, or 0.37%, at $74.74 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 55 cents, or 0.77%, to $70.74.

Earlier, a report said that the federal government collected a whopping Rs808 billion in petroleum levy during the first nine months of 2024, ARY News cited sources.

The collection was made on petrol and high-speed diesel, with the government currently charging Rs60 per litre on petrol and diesel both, the sources added.

The breakdown of the collection showed that Rs246 billion was collected during the first quarter (January-March), followed by Rs299 billion in the second quarter (April-June) and Rs261 billion in the third quarter (July-September).

The revenue generated from the petroleum levy remains with the federal government, while the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) transfers its share to the provinces under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

The petroleum levy collection is expected to increase further by the end of the year, as data for October-December is yet to be released.