What happened
The government kept the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel unchanged for the next pricing cycle, a notification from the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division said, with the benefit of lower international crude prices absorbed by a higher petroleum levy rather than passed on to consumers.
Petrol remained at Rs299.50 per litre and high-speed diesel at Rs311.47 per litre. According to official pricing documents reported by Profit, the ex-refinery price of high-speed diesel fell by about Rs6.57 per litre, from Rs217.09 to Rs210.52, but the petroleum levy was raised by the same amount, from Rs72.97 to Rs79.54, leaving the subtotal and the final consumer price unchanged. For petrol, the ex-refinery price eased by 39 paisas, from Rs211.37 to Rs210.98, and the levy rose by 39 paisas, from Rs66.25 to Rs66.64, again neutralising any reduction.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik rejected the suggestion that the government was favouring one sector over another. In a post on the social media platform X, he shared a table showing petrol prices ranged between $90.36 and $98.35 a barrel from 22 to 26 June, while high-speed diesel traded between $104.79 and $109.09. “The government is neither giving preference to any sector nor imposing any undue burden on the other,” he said, adding that the government was committed, “within the scope of its international obligations, to pass on any benefit to the consumers”. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had so far reduced diesel prices by Rs200 per litre and petrol by Rs155 per litre.
Why it matters
The decision means motorists, transporters, farmers and industry will keep paying the same prices despite easing international oil markets, delaying any pass-through effect on inflation and household budgets. It also preserves fiscal room for a government under revenue pressure. The pricing cycle has been unusually volatile: after the US-Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz pushed crude prices higher, the government moved from fortnightly to weekly revisions. Fuel prices peaked on 3 April, when petrol reached Rs458.4 and high-speed diesel Rs520.35 per litre. Amid a backlash, the prime minister brought the petrol price down to Rs378 within 24 hours by cutting the petroleum levy by Rs80 per litre. In the previous week, he announced a Rs74 cut in petrol and a Rs67 cut in diesel, as covered in KhabarWire’s report on the 19 June reduction.
What is still uncertain
Reports suggested the government was considering replacing the existing fortnightly pricing mechanism with a monthly review, but no decision had been announced in the cited reporting. The notification said the unchanged prices would remain in force “until further orders”, leaving open when the next revision would come. The government did not state how long it intended to keep using the levy to offset movements in international prices.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 2026-06-27.
- Dawn — "Minister says govt not giving preference to any sector after petrol, diesel prices kept unchanged"27 June 2026 · The unchanged prices, the petroleum minister's defence and the international price table.
- Profit by Pakistan Today — "Govt keeps fuel prices unchanged, raises levy to offset global oil price decline"27 June 2026 · The notified per-litre figures and the ex-refinery and levy calculations.
- Pro Pakistani — "Govt Increases Levy Instead of Passing Oil Price Relief to Consumers"27 June 2026 · Confirmation of the pump prices and the levy increase.
