Islamabad : 30th July 2026: The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, chaired by Senator Umer Farooq, met at Parliament House to review the mechanism for daily petroleum price determination, the criteria for the appointment of Chairpersons and Managing Directors of state-owned petroleum companies, the composition of their Boards of Directors, and the implementation status of the Committee’s previous recommendations.
The meeting was attended by Senator Qurat-ul-Ain Marri, Senator Saifullah Abro, Senator Abdul Wassy, Senator Rana Mahmood Ul Hassan, Senator Saadia Abbasi, Senator Hidayatullah Khan and Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti, while Senator Jan Muhammad participated as a special invitee.
The Committee held a detailed discussion on the recently introduced daily petroleum pricing mechanism and questioned the rationale for replacing the previous fortnightly pricing system. Federal Minister for Petroleum informed the Committee that the Federal Government had depoliticized the pricing process by empowering OGRA, as the independent regulator, to determine petroleum prices.
Chairman OGRA briefed the Committee that petroleum prices are calculated using a seven-day rolling average of Platts international benchmarks. He maintained that the daily pricing mechanism protects consumers by spreading the impact of international price fluctuations over a seven-day period, thereby minimizing sudden price shocks especially due to ongoing US-Iran conflict. He added that the new mechanism primarily discourages speculative practices aimed at earning illegitimate profits. Members of the Committee also stressed the need for greater digitization of the petroleum supply chain to curb fuel adulteration, smuggling and hoarding.
The Committee expressed concern over the high tax burden on petroleum products. Representatives of the Petroleum Dealers Association informed the Committee that frequent price revisions were creating operational difficulties for dealers. The Chairman Committee directed OGRA to engage all relevant stakeholders, including the Dealers Association, and submit a practical proposal for addressing these concerns.
The Committee also took serious notice of the absence of the Managing Director of Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL), despite the company being a state-owned entity, and observed that the required information had not been provided. The Committee considered to initiate a privilege motion against the Managing Director of PRL. The Petroleum Division was further directed to submit complete details of the Boards of Directors and senior management of all government-owned petroleum companies.
Reviewing the implementation of its previous recommendations, the Committee expressed dissatisfaction over the failure of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to implement the Committee’s directives, provide details of its Board of Directors, and tender a formal apology over remarks discouraging the Senate Standing Committee from discussing certain matters. The Committee considered to move a privilege motion against SSGC. The Petroleum Division was also directed to review the tenure of Board members serving beyond the prescribed period and submit a comprehensive report.
The Committee further took strict notice of the absence of performance audits of oil rigs and directed the relevant authorities to submit the audit report within seven days. It also reviewed issues relating to LPG quotas and licensing and directed OGRA to convene a meeting with all stakeholders and submit a detailed report to the Committee.
Arif Rana added : Since introduction of new oil pricing two weeks ago, the government is regularly increasing oil prices on daily basis and oil marketing companies (OMCs) are making money out of it , yet the authorities including Petroleum minister and senior officials of Petroleum Division and OGRA dodged the Senate panel by claiming during the proceedings that the new pricing system was bring in to protect the consumers’ interest.