Fuel price may reach Rs1,000 per litre if shortage occurs: petroleum minister

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Sunday warned that the price of fuel could rise to Rs1,000 per litre if a shortage develops, while saying there was currently no fuel shortage in the country.

Talking to the media in Lahore, the minister said the government was making all-out efforts to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies despite severe resource constraints and a sharp increase in international oil prices.

He said oil prices in the international market had increased by around 80%, while petrol prices in Pakistan had been raised by only 50%, since March 1 this year.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as a responsible premier, has put a check on the increase in petrol prices,” Malik said.

The minister said Rs30 billion to Rs40 billion had been redirected towards vulnerable segments under the fuel relief mechanism, while Rs180 million in tokens was issued in a single day.

He said payments had been disbursed to 7,400 petrol pumps across the country to facilitate more than two million registered citizens.

Malik said the government had informed the Jamaat-e-Islami delegation about the challenges being faced in managing fuel supplies and urged the party not to politicise public hardships.

Regarding winter energy requirements, the petroleum minister said the government was carefully managing LNG supplies to prevent gas shortages.

“We will not allow a shortage of gas for the public in winter, even if we have to import $100 million worth of gas instead of $3 million,” he said.