The federal government has changed how petrol prices are set in Pakistan. The Directorate General of Oil in the Petroleum Division has written to OGRA—the oil and gas regulator—saying the federal cabinet has approved a new petrol price formula and that the regulator should apply the updated mechanism.
Under the letter, the import price of petrol will be fixed on the actual cost of Pakistan State Oil’s (PSO) import cargo. If that actual cargo cost is not available, the price of the last available cargo will be used instead. The shift is meant to anchor the official import benchmark more closely to what PSO actually pays for shipped petrol.
How refinery prices will be set
Oil refineries will be treated differently for a short transition. The letter says they may keep premiums and other related expenses at the level that applied before the Iran–United States war for the next 30 days. For those plants, the ex-refinery price of petrol—the price leaving the refinery gate—will be worked out using the premium and customs duty that stood on 7 March 2026.
Energy Ministry sources say that after the Iran–US conflict, refineries kept charging heavy premiums in line with imported petrol. Freezing those charges at the 7 March 2026 level, they argue, should leave refinery petrol cheaper than the import benchmark, while the import price itself sits higher on the new cargo-based method.
Where the price gap will go
The letter states that the difference between the import price and the refinery price will be moved into the petroleum levy account. Money collected in those levy accounts is to be used for petrol relief. In practice, refineries would deposit an amount equal to that gap so their product lines up with the import price while the differential is parked for later relief spending.
Separately, the Rs80-per-litre petroleum levy on petrol remains unchanged. Energy Ministry sources say that Rs80-per-litre figure has no link to the relief that may be drawn from the levy accounts under the new arrangement. In other words, the levy rate itself is not being presented as the consumer-relief tool; the gap transferred into the levy account is.
What comes next
OGRA now has a written instruction to price petrol under the cabinet-approved formula: PSO cargo costs for the import side, a 30-day freeze for refinery premiums tied to 7 March 2026, and transfer of any import–refinery gap into the petroleum levy account. The letter does not itself announce a new pump price for the fortnightly review cycle. How quickly the cargo-based import rate and the temporary refinery freeze show up in what motorists pay will depend on the next official price notification under this petrol price formula.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Sarkar ne petrol ki qeemat ka formula badal diya hai. Ab import rate PSO ke asli cargo cost se judegi, aur refineries ke premium 30 din ke liye 7 March 2026 wali level par rahenge. Qeematon ka farq petroleum levy account mein jayega, jo petrol relief ke liye use hona hai. Petrol par 80 rupay fi liter levy pehle ki tarah lagegi; yeh 80 rupay seedha consumer relief nahi hai.
