Govt enlists oil refineries to shield citizens from global price hikes

The government says oil refineries will absorb about Rs15 billion monthly to keep petrol roughly Rs15 per litre below its international-market equivalent. Dawn reported that Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced the arrangement on Monday, saying it helped prevent a Rs15 increase in domestic petrol prices that had been expected on Friday.

Malik said refineries had raised throughput in recent months and were asked to help consumers as global oil costs climbed during the US-Israeli war on Iran. He added that a $20-per-barrel limit had been set, compared with a pre-crisis refinery premium of $5, and said the government could intervene again if conditions worsened. The government also cited refinery upgrades and deregulation among its longer-term aims.