Pakistan Raises Gasoline Prices After Crude Oil Rises to Record

By Farhan Sharif

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan raised gasoline and diesel prices by 10 percent, the fifth increase in four months, after record crude oil prices drove up import costs for refiners.

The price of gasoline was raised by 6.88 rupees (10 cents) a liter and diesel by 4.46 rupees, the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority said in a statement on its Web site. The changes took effect yesterday.

Pakistan reviews domestic oil prices fortnightly, to reflect movements on global markets. Oil has climbed 47 percent this year and reached a record $142.99 a barrel in New York on June 27. The South Asian country imports about 85 percent of the oil it uses domestically.

Pakistan subsidized oil-product prices for four years until March to shield consumers from high energy costs and to curb inflation. The payments cost the nation as much as 14.5 billion rupees a month, according to JS Global Capital Ltd. in Karachi.

The latest increases take the price of gasoline to 75.69 rupees a liter and diesel to 49.05 rupees.

Higher fuel prices may stoke inflation, which accelerated to a five-year high in March. Consumer prices jumped 14.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics.

Pakistan State Oil Ltd., the biggest fuel retailer, and Shell Pakistan Ltd., the second largest, sell gasoline, diesel, lubricants and compressed natural gas to consumers in Pakistan.

Source : Bloomberg