The government has cut the price of petrol by Rs3.39 a litre to Rs328.56 and high-speed diesel by Rs4.07 to Rs385.86 (Geo News).
It is the second consecutive reduction. Petrol has now fallen almost Rs7.50 from the Rs336.15 it reached on July 31, and diesel more than Rs7 from Rs393.04.
The direction reflects a softer crude market. Oil fell nearly 5 per cent after President Donald Trump announced fresh negotiations with Iran and held off on new strikes, though prices ticked up again as the talks’ prospects remained uncertain (Geo News).
A separate supply decision has pushed the same way, with seven countries in the enlarged Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries raising September output by 188,000 barrels per day.
The daily pricing mechanism introduced on July 17 is now working in reverse. It added Rs28.71 to a litre of petrol in its first eight days as the Gulf premium fed through; it has given back a quarter of that in two revisions.
Diesel remains the more consequential rate for headline inflation, pricing freight, farm machinery and inter-city transport, and at Rs385.86 it still sits more than Rs57 above petrol.
The relief does not extend to gas. Regasified LNG prices were raised by up to 34.6 per cent at the weekend and are more than 144 per cent higher than before the war, after QatarEnergy declared force majeure following the March 2 drone strikes on its infrastructure.
