OMCs demand immediate increase in margin

Business Recorder reported that Pakistan's leading oil marketing companies want the government to urgently notify a pending increase of Rs1.22 per litre to their regulated margin. In a letter dated August 18, 2026, addressed to Energy Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, the Oil Companies Advisory Council warned that the sector cannot keep absorbing rising financial and regulatory costs indefinitely.

According to the letter, the last adjustment to the margin happened in September 2023, and FY24, FY25 and FY26 have since passed with no matching change while FY27 is now underway. The council described the existing Rs7.87 per litre margin as far too low for current business economics, and noted that the pending increase, calculated from CPI readings for FY24 and FY25, has already been approved by the ECC.

The council rejected conditioning the approved increase on finishing the industry's digitisation programme, calling that precondition neither reasonable nor equitable, even though the companies have already filed a three-year rollout schedule with authorities. It also flagged about Rs66.7 billion in Price Differential Claims still outstanding, with GST and input-tax reimbursements unresolved, which has tied up industry funds in receivables. OCAC warned that weaker finances could further discourage investment in the downstream petroleum sector, and it has asked for a prompt session with the minister.