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The federal government on Tuesday increased the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) for July 29 under the daily petroleum pricing mechanism, despite a sharp decline in international crude oil prices.
According to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division, the ex-depot price of petrol has been increased by Rs1.63 per litre to Rs335.81, while high-speed diesel has gone up by Rs1.55 per litre to Rs388.38.
The latest increase comes just a day after the government reduced petrol prices by Re1 per litre while raising diesel prices by Rs3.37 per litre.
The government has now raised petrol prices by a cumulative Rs25 per litre and high-speed diesel prices by Rs65 per litre over the past 12 days, continuing a series of increases since the introduction of the daily fuel pricing regime.
The daily pricing mechanism, introduced last week, replaced Pakistan’s weekly petroleum pricing system.
Under the new framework, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) determines ex-depot prices every day using a rolling seven-day average of international oil prices.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik had announced on July 17 that OGRA would update petroleum product prices daily and publish the revised rates on its website.
Officials say the new system allows domestic fuel prices to respond more quickly to changes in international markets while improving transparency in the pricing process.
High-speed diesel is widely used in the transport, agriculture and industrial sectors, while changes in petrol prices directly affect private motorists, public transport operators and commuters.
The latest domestic price increase came even as international oil prices fell sharply.
In the international market, oil prices dropped 5% on Tuesday to a two-week low, on cautious hopes for a resolution to the Iran war as traders assessed developments in the Middle East.
Brent futures fell $4.61, or 5.2%, to $83.75 a barrel at 12:01 p.m. EDT (1601 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $4.06, or 4.9%, to $78.55.
After dropping about 17% over three days, both crude benchmarks were on track for their lowest closes since July 13.
