By Ahmed Shamsur Rehman/ANI
ISLAMABAD — The National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum Division met at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Syed Mustafa Mehmood, MNA, and reviewed petroleum pricing, refinery upgradation, fuel smuggling and key gas-sector matters.
The committee confirmed the minutes of its previous meeting and deferred consideration of the Natural Gas (Development Surcharge) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2026, until the next meeting.
The committee was briefed on the mechanism for determining petrol and gas prices and the performance of PSO and OGDCL. OGRA informed members that petrol and diesel prices are determined through a transparent formula based on international prices, PSO data, exchange rates and other prescribed components.
The committee stressed the need for greater transparency regarding petroleum prices, including taxes, levies, transportation costs and international benchmarks.
The Petroleum Division informed the committee that four out of five refineries had signed agreements for upgradation, while negotiations with the remaining refinery were underway. The committee also expressed concern over higher-sulphur petroleum products and their possible environmental impact during the smog and winter seasons.
The committee discussed petroleum smuggling and was informed that border controls were being strengthened. End-to-end digitization of the petroleum supply chain was also highlighted as a long-term measure to identify discrepancies in supply and sales.
Gas pricing, circular debt and the financial position of SNGPL and SSGCL were also discussed. The committee directed the relevant authorities to provide updated figures on liabilities and revenue shortfalls at the next meeting.
The committee decided to take up issues concerning Universal Gas Distribution Company, commercial gas sales, economical fuel for farmers through Light Diesel Oil and provision of gas facilities within a five-kilometre radius of oil and gas wells at its next meeting.
The meeting was attended by committee members and senior officials from the Petroleum Division, OGRA, OGDCL, SNGPL, SSGCL and the Energy Department, Punjab.
