The Petroleum Pricing Committee (PPC) met on Thursday 12 January 2023 and after verification of the computation of the retail prices of Mogas and Gas Oil, as provided for under Regulation 8 of the Consumer Protection (Control of Price of Petroleum Products) Regulations 2011 (as amended), recommended that the retail price of Mogas be maintained at its current level as per Regulation 5 (2) and that of Gas Oil be increased by a maximum of 10% as per Regulation 5 (3), that is to Rs 60.00 per litre.
The Committee also took note of the evolution of world prices of Mogas and Gas Oil and also considered the deficit of Rs 4.4 billion in the Price Stabilisation Account (PSA).
Mogas (L’Essence) – Based on the new Reference Price of US$ 827.33 per metric ton for Mogas, that is, the actual prices for October to December 2022 and the future prices for January to March 2023 at an exchange rate of Rs 45.35/US$, and taking into consideration the provisions of Regulation 5 (2) which states that “subject that there are funds in the PSA, the retail price of a petroleum product shall be decreased”, the retail price of Mogas is maintained at Rs 74.10 per litre.
Gas Oil (Diesel) – Using the new Reference Price of US$115.38 per barrel, that is, the actual prices for October to December 2022 and the future prices for January to March 2023 at an exchange rate of Rs 45.35/US$, the retail price of Gas Oil should be increased to Rs 61.40 per litre that is by Rs 6.85 per litre or 12.56% but limited to a maximum of 10% at Rs 60.00 per litre, as provided for under Regulation 5 (3).
Subsequently, acting under the provisions of Regulation 8A of the Consumer Protection (Control of Price of Petroleum Products) Regulations 2011 (as amended), the Minister has disapproved the recommendation of the Committee to increase the retail price of Gas Oil. The current retail price of Rs 54.55 per litre for Gas Oil (Diesel) is therefore maintained. As such, a loss of Rs 5.91 per litre of Gas Oil is carried forward.
The Committee also took note that the deficit of about Rs 4.4 billion in the Price Stabilisation Account is because the full increase in prices of Mogas and Gas Oil have not been passed on to consumers at the previous meetings of PPC due to the limit of 10% increase allowed by the Regulations despite substantial surge in world prices which resulted in increases of more than 10% in the calculated retail price. The deficit in the PSA has evolved as follows:
The retail prices of Mogas (L’Essence) and that of Gas Oil (Diesel) are maintained at their current levels, that is, at Rs74.10 and Rs 54.55 per litre respectively. The new Price Structures are as follows:
