Government eyes deregulation of fuel prices

Amid increasing fuel prices and the oil industry’s complaints over the rising influx of smuggled oil products, the government has expedited the process of deregulating petroleum pro­duct prices to shift the brunt of public cri­ticism to oil marketing companies (OMCs). In a directive, the petroleum division has asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) “to share a presentation on the analysis and implications of deregulation of petroleum products” within three days. This should particularly cover the “in-country freight equalisation margins (IFEM) and other related aspects”, it said. The directive came following instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office for urgent finalisation of a “deregulation framework for the petroleum sector”, a senior government official said.