A crisis has arisen in Pakistan regarding the availability of petrol and diesel. Actually, the Pakistani government has announced to release the prices of petrol and diesel daily. Angered by this, the All Pakistan Petrol Pump Association has announced an indefinite strike. In the statement issued by the association, it has been said that all petrol pumps across the country will remain closed indefinitely from 22nd and 23rd July.
The association said in its statement that talks with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik regarding increasing the margin for petrol pump owners and releasing daily prices of petroleum products did not reach any result. The association says that the strike will continue until the government takes ‘positive and acceptable decisions’ on their demands.
What is the price of petrol and diesel in Pakistan?
Earlier, Federal Minister for Petroleum Affairs Ali Pervez Malik announced that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) will now determine oil prices on a daily basis instead of every seven days. Will publish it on its website. According to the website of Pakistan Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the price of petrol on July 22 is Rs 320.73 per liter. Whereas, the price of diesel is Rs 367.21 per liter.
Ali Parvez Malik said that due to the ongoing war between Iran and America in the last few days, oil prices have started increasing drastically. There has also been a huge increase in the price of diesel. This is the reason why the Prime Minister and the Cabinet have given permission to release the prices of petrol and diesel on daily basis. Its objective is to bring transparency in price determination of petroleum products.
Pakistan government told why it took such a decision
Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of providing information to the public about how the prices are determined at petrol pumps. On this matter, Pakistan Government Information Minister Atta Tarar said that earlier it used to happen that information about fluctuations in oil prices in the global market during a period of seven days would reach the public after a week.
Information Minister Atta Tarar further said that if oil prices go down, information should reach the public immediately. They should get this facility immediately. The only way is to release oil prices on a daily basis. The government understands that this is not easy, as the increase in oil prices has an immediate impact. He said that no petrol pump or oil marketing company will be allowed to hoard.
Petrol and diesel prices will not be felt as a big shock
Osama Qureshi, vice chairman of Synergeco, a refinery that produces petroleum products in Pakistan, said that this decision will definitely benefit the public. The prices which earlier appeared to be a big shock after being released at an interval of 15 days. Now he will not feel the increase in prices every day.
At the same time, the government says that this is a step towards deregulation of petrol products. But the government will continue to have control over the taxes imposed on petroleum products and the profit rates of oil marketing companies. However, after this announcement of the government and the announcement of strike by Pakistani Petrol Pump Association, the crisis of availability of petrol and diesel has increased here.
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