Petrol cut by another Rs1.60 to Rs377.71 per litre, diesel raised by Rs1.64 as new rates take effect October 23
ISLAMABAD: The government has announced another petrol price cut for Friday, October 23, trimming petrol by Rs1.60 to Rs377.71 per litre while raising high-speed diesel by Rs1.64 to Rs391.75. The Petroleum Division said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had revised the ex-depot prices under the federal petroleum pricing mechanism, and the new rates take effect at midnight.
Third day, same split
It is the third revision in a row that has moved the two fuels in opposite directions. On Wednesday petrol came down by Rs2.71 to Rs379.31 and diesel inched up by 31 paisa; Thursday’s notification simply extends the pattern. For motorcyclists and small-car owners the relief, while modest, keeps coming. For anyone moving goods by road, the arithmetic runs the other way — diesel drives freight and public transport, and every increase there tends to surface in market prices a few days later.
Oil at a five-month high
The local revision lands on a day when world markets moved sharply the other way. Crude climbed about 2 per cent on Thursday to its highest in five months, with Brent futures up $2.42, or 2.2 per cent, at $111.24 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate up $1.14 at $98.29. Attacks by Houthi forces in Saudi Arabia have revived fears of disrupted supplies from the region. While global prices keep swinging like this, Pakistan’s daily pricing rounds are likely to keep producing these split verdicts — one fuel cheaper, the other dearer, and no two days quite the same.
