Reporting snapshot · 29 September 2026. The Petroleum Division issued the notification on Monday evening for 29 September under the daily pricing framework. Rates notified for a single day can shift again on 30 September, and the underlying Platts Arab Gulf window and the still-unresolved US–Iran conflict remain the main swing factors. Taxes and duties on petrol and diesel remain at the same levels as in the 26 September revision.
What happened
The federal government on Monday revised Pakistan’s petroleum prices for 29 September 2026, cutting petrol by Rs2.27 a litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3.56 a litre under the daily pricing framework. The notification, issued by the Petroleum Division after price determination by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), set petrol at Rs389.03 a litre, down from Rs391.30, and HSD at Rs404.97 a litre, down from Rs408.53, Geo News reported, citing the notification.
The revised rates apply only for 29 September. Under the daily pricing mechanism, the Petroleum Division notifies a fresh rate each working day, with Friday rates held unchanged through the weekend, Profit by Pakistan Today explained. The Express Tribune, Daily Pakistan and Dawn all carried the same rates. The change means petrol has moved back below the Rs390 mark and HSD has fallen further from the levels seen earlier in the month.
The move reverses the split direction of the 26–28 September revision, which had raised petrol by Rs2.02 a litre and cut HSD by Rs3.59 a litre. This time both fuels moved in the same direction, with petrol and HSD each cheaper at the pump than they were under the prior three-day window.
Why both fuels moved down this time
Pakistan’s ex-depot prices are set with reference to international product prices, primarily the Platts Arab Gulf assessments for gasoline and gasoil, averaged over a rolling window. The change in direction reflects softer markers in that window for both products over the second half of September, even as crude benchmarks remained volatile. Brent and West Texas Intermediate have swung between gains and losses as traders weighed the prospect of a US–Iran diplomatic opening against the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but the products Pakistan actually imports have moved in a narrower band.
Domestic fuel taxes have stayed in place through the recent revisions. The government continues to levy about Rs114 a litre in taxes and duties on petrol and about Rs100 a litre on diesel, Dawn’s coverage of the prior revision noted. That means the full cut of Rs2.27 and Rs3.56 reaches consumers, but the residual tax wedge keeps headline prices well above pre-conflict levels.
The May–April peaks are still the reference point. HSD reached Rs520.35 a litre on 3 April 2026 and petrol Rs458.41 on the same date, after the 28 February outbreak of the US–Iran conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which had carried roughly a fifth of global energy supplies before the war, Dawn reported. The current levels are well below those peaks, but remain higher than the pre-conflict baseline of Rs281 for HSD and Rs266 for petrol.
What it means for households and freight
For private cars, motorcycles and the bulk of household transport, the cut is small but real. Petrol is the fuel most used by personal vehicles in Pakistan, and a Rs2.27-a-litre reduction flows through directly into running costs. KhabarWire’s earlier coverage of the September relief scheme noted that the prime minister’s package offers Rs100 a litre off petrol for motorcycles, three-wheeler rickshaws and cars with engines up to 800cc, covering an estimated 11.8 million beneficiaries; that scheme runs alongside the daily pricing mechanism rather than through it, and the underlying pump prices still reflect the Petroleum Division notification.
For the freight and agriculture economy, the diesel cut is the more important number. HSD is the fuel of buses, trucks, tractors and most heavy machinery, and a Rs3.56-a-litre reduction trims input costs across the supply chain, Profit noted. The cut does not translate one-for-one into lower fares or freight rates, because operating costs include labour, tolls and other charges, but it eases pressure on operators that have absorbed repeated upward revisions since the February conflict.
The 17 September austerity package is the policy backdrop. The Cabinet Division ordered a 50 per cent cut in official-vehicle fuel allocations, a three-month ban on foreign travel and 9pm closing times for shops and markets. A modest downward revision in pump prices does not unwind those measures; rather, the government is signalling that domestic energy costs are moving in the right direction while still keeping consumption curbs in place.
The daily pricing mechanism
The 29 September rates are the latest in the daily pricing arrangement the federal cabinet approved as global markets became more volatile. Under the framework, OGRA issues daily ex-depot prices for petrol and high-speed diesel without requiring prior approval from the prime minister or the federal cabinet on each change. Prices are determined using the average international market prices recorded over the previous seven days, in line with what Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik described as international practice.
Rates notified on Fridays remain unchanged on Saturdays and Sundays, which is why the 26 September notification held through the weekend and why Monday’s notification is the first business-day revision. OGRA also publishes daily Platts reference prices, the petroleum levy cannot exceed the limit approved by the federal cabinet, and any change in the levy rate requires approval from the Finance Division. Kerosene oil and light diesel oil prices are likewise set daily.
The shift from fortnightly to daily pricing was a response to volatility following the 28 February outbreak of the US–Iran conflict. The government had previously shortened the review cycle from fortnightly to weekly and then, in July 2026, to daily, in line with international practice for oil-importing economies facing large product-market swings, the Tribune reported.
What is still uncertain
The 29 September rates apply for a single day. The next Petroleum Division notification, expected on Tuesday, could move either fuel in either direction depending on how the latest Platts window closes. The US–Iran conflict remains unresolved, with Qatari mediators due to hold separate talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and with the US side in New York, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Washington for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Reuters reported. Any change in the Strait of Hormuz situation or in Houthi attacks on Saudi shipping would feed through quickly into Pakistan’s pump prices.
The petroleum levy and other taxes also remain at the levels the authorities have said are under review within the cabinet-approved limit. As with the 26 September revision, this is a dated snapshot: a fresh international price movement could bring a new notification within a day.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published reporting and the Petroleum Division notification, not independent on-the-ground reporting. Facts and attributed remarks are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 29 September 2026.
- OGRA — Notified petroleum prices29 September 2026 · Primary record of the Petroleum Division notification setting petrol at Rs389.03 and high-speed diesel at Rs404.97 a litre for 29 September 2026 under the daily pricing mechanism.
- Geo News — Govt cuts petrol price by Rs2.27, HSD by Rs3.56 per litre28 September 2026 · Independent confirmation of the rates, the Petroleum Division notification, the daily pricing mechanism and the single-day validity of the 29 September rates.
- Profit by Pakistan Today — Govt cuts petrol by Rs2.27, diesel by Rs3.56 per litre28 September 2026 · Independent confirmation that petrol fell below the Rs390 mark, that HSD fell further from levels earlier in the month, and that the rates apply only for 29 September under the daily mechanism.
- Express Tribune — Govt decreases petrol by Rs2.27, diesel by Rs3.56 for Sept 2928 September 2026 · Independent confirmation of the rates, the link to the 26 September split, the daily pricing mechanism and the July 2026 move to daily revisions.
- Dawn — Petrol price down by Rs0.84 per litre, high-speed diesel rate reduced by Rs2.6324 September 2026 · Context on the Rs114 petrol and Rs100 diesel taxes and duties, the April 2026 peak prices, and the move from weekly to daily pricing under the July framework.
