WASIM IQBAL

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday reduced the price of petrol by Rs3.93 per litre for next three days effective from October 17.

However, the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) has been kept unchanged for the period.

According to an official notification, the price of petrol declined to Rs386.30 per litre from Rs390.23 per litre. Meanwhile HSD’s price has been kept unchanged Rs396.96 per litre.

During last seven days, the average refined petrol price has been decreased to USD 124.39 per bbl (compared to USD 127.24 per bbl on October 16), while HSD has been increased to USD 108.54 from USD 108.53 per barrel.

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) states that the change in price is necessitated by global events including changes in Platts rates, premiums, incidentals etc.

A Petroleum Division notification states that levies and profit margins remain largely steady across both products. The change is recorded in import cost of both petroleum products. The import cost of petrol has been declined to Rs275.56 per litre from Rs279.45 per litre, whereas, cost of HSD price has stable at Rs289.40 per litre.

According to the notification, government levies and fixed profit margins for petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) remain unchanged. Both fuels carry a Petroleum Levy of Rs80 per litre, a Climate Support Levy of Rs5 per litre, and profit margins of Rs9.98 per litre for dealers and Rs7.87 per litre for oil marketing companies. The Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IFEM) is sustained at Rs7.93 per litre for petrol and Rs4.71 per litre for HSD.