The government has increased the price of petrol by Rs3.40 per litre and High-Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs6.72 per litre, with the new rates taking effect from Thursday, Sept 10.
Following the increase, petrol will be sold at Rs367.75 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs392.67 per litre. The government continues to charge Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.
The Petroleum Division issued a notification on Wednesday announcing the revised prices.
HSD had previously reached Rs520.35 per litre on April 3 before falling in the months that followed. Its price had risen from Rs281 per litre after the United States (US)-Iran war broke out on February 28.
Petrol, meanwhile, had reached Rs458.41 per litre on April 3 after its price began rising from Rs266 per litre in the first week of March.
The latest revision comes after the government changed the way it sets fuel prices. On July 17, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.
Before the change, the government had announced weekly fuel price revisions since early March. It had also introduced fuel conservation measures over concerns about possible oil supply disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
In April, the federal government also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.
Earlier, Malik said that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to assign the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of setting fuel prices on a daily basis according to international market trends.
The petrol price directly affects private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, with changes in its cost affecting the middle and lower-middle classes.
Diesel prices also have a wider impact as HSD is mainly used in heavy transport, power plants and large generators.
Petrol and HSD remain the major revenue earners among petroleum products, with monthly sales of around 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes. In comparison, monthly demand for kerosene stands at around 10,000 tonnes.
