Petrol

"The situation will become extremely critical by mid-February if remedial measures are not taken immediately," local refineries warned Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik and the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Jameel Ahmed, in separate letters. The letters were jointly written by Pakistan Refinery Limited, National Refinery, Attock Refinery and Cnergyico Refinery, The News reported.

"There is a (existing) subsidy of Rs 200. What is this subsidy? It is tax payer's money... The ones who are most vulnerable, we are always ready to help if it is left to this House and the honourable Prime Minister. It would be ideal if the international or the Saudi Contract Price could further come down from $750. It would enable domestic LPG to be sold at even more economical rates," he said.

Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the India Energy Week, Ghais, asked whether OPEC feared loss of market share as India is buying a bulk of its crude from Russia, said that OPEC shares a diverse relationship with India which dates back to a long time. "Relationship between India and OPEC is solid and it forges ahead into other dimensions like investments," he said.

Like other sectors, the oil industry in Pakistan is facing hurdles to opening LCs owing to the US dollar shortage and restrictions put in place by the SBP, The Express Tribune reported. An oil cargo of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has already been cancelled while LC for another cargo, scheduled for loading on January 23, has not yet been confirmed.

Windfall tax on export of diesel and jet fuel has also been reduced, the order, dated January 16, said. The tax on export of diesel has been brought down to Rs 5 per litre, from Rs 6.5 per litre, while on jet fuel, it has been brought down to Rs 3.5 a litre from Rs 4.5 a litre. The new price regime has come into effect from Tuesday.

Addressing the CII Bio-Energy summit, Hardeep Puri said that setting up 2G refineries to make ethanol from parali (Panipat refinery) and bamboo (Numaligarh refinery) with the twin objectives of reducing pollution along with achieving energy security goals is another milestone in this direction.

Addressing the Bio-Energy summit organised by industry body CII, he said that he would be meeting Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri within the next 15 days to work on a policy to set up ethanol-based pumps in the country. The minister added that there is a requirement of 1,000 crore litre of ethanol if it is blended with petrol by up to 20 per cent.

He said that India has been able to navigate through the most formidable energy crisis the world has seen since the 1973 oil crisis thanks to its energy security strategy focussing on diversification of energy supplies, increasing India's exploration and production footprint, and meeting energy transition through gas-based economy, Green Hydrogen and electric vehicles.

According to official figures, the OMCs exported 668 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) of petrol in 2021-22, which was 142 per cent more than 276 TMT of petrol exported by the country in 2020-21. In 2020-21, the OMCs exported 1,985 TMT of diesel, while in 2021-22, it exported 1,994 TMT of diesel, a growth of less than 1 per cent over the previous year.

According to Petroleum Ministry sources, petrol prices stood at Rs 81.06 per litre in October 2020, however by October 2022, they had risen only 19.3 per cent to Rs 96.72 per litre. Similarly diesel prices, which were at Rs 70.53 per litre in October 2020, rose by 27.1 per cent to stand at Rs 89.62 per litre.