Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association has shown their appreciation to the Prime Minister deciding not to interfere in the determination of oil prices any further. However, they would prefer to have OGRA perform this task, not the Oil marketing companies (OMCs).
While interacting with the media, Chairman PPA Hassan Shah said that professionally OGRA is more competent to safeguard the consumer and stakeholders interest. He stated that granting pricing power to OMCs was equally disadvantageous to consumers which he likened to ‘throwing consumers to the wolves’.
Shah explained that when the political government withdraws from the setting of prices for oil, it would not be blamed when the global prices for oil are adjusted upwards. He added that the government also suffers losses because of variations in oil prices and concluded that there is no better solution than the government distancing itself from the setting of oil prices.
This way the government would be exogenous to this mechanism hence not feeling the heat as a result of currency devaluation, dollar appreciation, or world market oil prices as was explained by Shah. He stressed that the OGRA’s technical competency enables it to professionally set the regulations concerning oil prices and there is agreement from the dealers to this despite their apprehension about relinquishing such power to the OMCs.
Shah insisted on the technique’s analysis to assess the prospect of positive and negative effects and outcomes first. He suggested that OGRA should engage in the determination of refining, companies, and the filling stations’ prices to lower the exploitation in the sector.
Last, but not least, Shah advised that no decisions should be made without involving over 14000 proprietors of the petrol pump and all oil refining companies, OMCs especially PSOs not to mention the owners of the oil tankers as this held the potential of creating major problems.