Petrol pump owners withdraw closure order after government ensures margin review and two-week fuel price test
Nadeem Khan, secretary of Pakistan Petrol Pump Owners Association, announces the postponement of the planned nationwide lockdown for two weeks during a press conference along with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik in Islamabad on Wednesday. SCREEN CAPTURE
The Pakistan Petrol Pump Owners Association on Wednesday postponed its planned nationwide shutdown for two weeks following successful negotiations with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, who assured dealers that their long-pending concerns would be addressed.
In a joint press conference with the minister, association secretary Nadeem Khan said the decision to withdraw the strike call was taken in view of the escalating regional crisis and the possible difficulties it could cause to the public.
“We reconsider our decision taking into account the escalating crisis caused by the war situation and the difficulties faced by the people,” he said.
Read: Petrol pump owners announce nationwide closure after talks with government fail
Khan said the minister had assured the association that its long-pending demand for a review of dealers’ profit margins, which had been awaiting action since 2022, would be addressed. He said the assurance had also been formalized through a written agreement.
“We have complete confidence in Ali Pervaiz Sahab and hope that our issue related to the commission will be resolved,” he said.
Referring to the government’s daily oil price fixing mechanism, the secretary said the minister had also assured the association that the policy would continue on a trial basis for two weeks, after which its advantages and disadvantages would be reviewed.
He said the government would assess whether the mechanism caused undue hardship to the public before deciding whether to continue it or reconsider it.
Based on these assurances, Khan said, the association had decided to postpone its closure call to avoid inconvenience to the public, expressing hope that its outstanding issues would be resolved after the two-week review period.
Addressing the press, Malik acknowledged the difficulties faced by both consumers and gasoline distributors due to rising oil prices.
Read also: Dealers look for an 8% margin in the middle of the daily fuel price
He thanked the petrol pump distributors, their associations and the oil marketing companies for supporting the government in difficult times.
The minister said the region was once again facing the threat of war, which had created new pressure on oil prices.
“In this situation, we have collectively decided to move forward in a transparent and fair manner during this difficult period,” he said.
Malik added that with the help of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the government would start publishing a detailed breakdown in Urdu of each component contributing to the rise in oil price on the regulator’s website to ensure greater transparency.
The minister said the government will hold detailed meetings with oil marketing companies (OMC), Department of Explosives and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to address the issues faced by petrol pump dealers.
He also assured the association that its long-pending demand for a review of distributors’ profit margins would be accepted. He said a roadmap would be prepared and a summary sent to cabinet so that dealers could cover their legitimate operating costs with an appropriate margin.
“On behalf of the ministry and the president of Ogra, I assure these colleagues that the issue, which has been unresolved for several years, will be resolved in the next two weeks and we look forward to sharing this good news with them as soon as possible,” he said.
Malik said if the matter remained unresolved after the two-week period, the government would hold another round of consultations with the association and make all-out efforts to resolve the issue.
