The government is likely to increase major petroleum products prices by Rs 3-4 per litre effective from December 1st.

Officials at the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) told Business Recorder  that keeping in view the international crude oil prices trends, the authority has calculated the impact of the international oil prices on local market. They said that petroleum products prices are linked with the prices of Gulf crude oil, which has shown an upward trend from $ 105 and has now reached $ 112 per barrel.

Price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) is likely to increase by Rs 3.5 per litre, High-Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs 3 per litre, petrol by Rs 0.80 per litre and kerosene oil by Rs 4 per litre.

Last month the government reduced the prices of different petroleum products by up to Rs 5.94 per litre. The price of HOBC was reduced by Rs 5.94 per litre, petrol reduced by Rs 1.54 per liter, Light Diesel Oil (LDO) by Rs 1.53 per litre and kerosene by Rs 0.86 per litre. However, no change was made in price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil, which is still Rs 94.15 per litre. At present different products are being sold at the following prices: HOBC 106.72, Premium 87.14, High Speed Diesel 94.16, Light Speed Diesel 81.99 and Kerosene Oil 85.76

This month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Light Sweet Crude oil prices have crossed $ 100 barrier per barrel, while Brent Crude Oil at present is being sold at $ 109 per barrel.

According to data, the prices of crude oil crossed $ 100 per barrel after four months as WTI prices touched $100.86 per barrel mark, breaking its last four months' record.

This was the first time after July 26, 2011 when prices crossed $ 100/bbl level which was dropped to a low of $ 74.95/bbl on July 26.

The expected increase in price will eventually affect all the segments of the society but salaried class and the underprivileged sections of the society would suffer more as it would increase the prices of all the commodities due to increased transportation costs.

On the other hand Pakistan import bill for petroleum products has recorded a growth of over 53.9 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year over the last year.

According to Federal Bureau of Statistics in absolute terms, the import bill of oil reached $5.013 billion in July-October this year against $3.257 billion over the corresponding period last year, owing to rising oil prices in international market.

The growth in import of oil is witnessed in both value and quantity, which also shows that the consumption of oil in domestic market also rose because of furnace oil-based energy production.

Of the total oil imports bill, the import of crude oil was up by 26.39 percent to $ 1.696 billion in the first fourth months this year as against $ 1.341 billion previous year. This suggests rising oil demand in the domestic market. The surge in oil prices was also driven by oil consumption in the power sector.

The import of petroleum products reached $3.495 billion in July-October this year, a surge by 73.16 per cent from $1.915 billion last year. This clearly shows that refining capacity has not fully been utilized in the country.