ISLAMABAD. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) rebutted resentment shown by the oil industry questioning the fair and correct reduction in prices of petrol and diesel effective from July 16, 2023.

The criticism is totally unsubstantiated and against the policy guidelines issued by the federal government.

The prices of petrol and diesel have been worked out strictly in accordance with the formula approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on July 28th, 2020 and accordingly, a reduction of Rs9/ltr in petrol and Rs7/ltr in diesel prices have been passed on to the general public on July 16, 2023.

The said ECC decision provides that in case of non-availability of PSO’s premium, freight or incidentals of the previous fortnight, the PSO’s previous month available incidentals of a fortnight will be applicable.

Accordingly, PSO’s previous month available incidentals were incorporated in the price computation, however, diesel premium applicable for the period 1st July-31st December 2023 @ $4.20/bbl of PSO was available since May 29, 2023, as mutually agreed between PSO and Kuwait Petroleum Company, the same was included in the said prices.

Therefore, the ECC’s decision has been applied in letter and spirit and the assertions of the oil industry on pricing mechanism as well as supply disruptions are “baseless and unacceptable”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023