Reporting snapshot · 14 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). Pakistan's federal government has set petrol at Rs392.66 and high-speed diesel at Rs396.82 a litre from Wednesday, 14 October, cutting petrol by Rs2.71 while leaving diesel almost unchanged. This article sets out the new ex-depot rates, how they compare with the previous day's revision and the oil-market context behind them. Prices can change again at the next daily review.
What changed for 14 October
The federal government cut the ex-depot price of petrol by Rs2.71 a litre to Rs392.66 and trimmed high-speed diesel (HSD) by three paisas to Rs396.82, effective Wednesday, 14 October, according to the Petroleum Division notification reported by Dawn, Geo News and The Express Tribune. Both are wholesale, or ex-depot, rates; pump prices are higher once dealers’ margins are added. Dawn reported that the government continues to levy about Rs114 a litre in taxes and duties on petrol and about Rs100 on diesel.
The move follows the 13 October revision, when the government cut petrol by Rs2.93 to Rs395.37 and raised diesel by 61 paisas to Rs396.85. Over the two days petrol has come down by about Rs5.64 a litre, while diesel has edged down by about 58 paisas net. Because the two fuels are repriced separately under Pakistan’s daily mechanism, the gap between them has narrowed further: petrol now costs close to Rs4 a litre less than diesel, a reversal of the relationship that held when diesel was the cheaper fuel.
Why diesel barely moved
Under Pakistan’s daily pricing system, petrol and diesel are repriced from their own international references and from the landing costs of the cargoes Pakistan is importing, so the two products often move by different amounts. HSD rose on 13 October while petrol fell; the 14 October revision broadly unwinds that split, taking diesel back to roughly where it stood two days earlier.
Diesel matters disproportionately to the economy. It powers heavy transport, generators and much of the freight fleet, so its price feeds through to the cost of moving goods and to electricity produced off-grid. Petrol is the fuel that most households buy directly, for motorcycles, rickshaws and small cars, which is why changes in its price are politically sensitive.
How the daily mechanism works
Pakistan moved to daily fuel pricing on 17 July 2026, replacing a weekly system that had itself replaced older fortnightly revisions. The trigger was the Middle East war that began on 28 February, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, previously the route for about a fifth of the world’s energy. With supply uncertain, the government chose to pass changes through daily rather than weekly.
Under the cabinet-approved framework, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) issues daily ex-depot prices without prior approval from the prime minister or cabinet. Prices notified on Fridays hold through the weekend, and OGRA began publishing daily Platts reference prices from 1 July 2026. The petroleum levy cannot exceed the ceiling approved by the cabinet, and kerosene and light diesel oil are also priced daily. OGRA publishes the notified ex-depot rates on its website, which is the official record of each daily notification.
The oil-market backdrop
The 14 October revision lands as crude prices remain volatile. Oil was mixed on Tuesday: Brent futures fell 59 cents, or 0.6%, to $106.06 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 73 cents, or 0.8%, to $94.47, The Express Tribune reported, as hopes that a US-Russia arrangement could free up more Russian diesel supply offset renewed attacks on Saudi and Yemeni energy infrastructure.
Diesel has been the tighter market. Prices for the fuel have hit record highs in several regions in recent weeks after disruptions linked to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and Iranian attacks on Middle East energy facilities. For Pakistan, which imports the bulk of its petroleum, those international movements pass quickly into the import bill and the notified local price.
This is the third revision in a week that KhabarWire has covered. The 13 October revision cut petrol and raised diesel, and the 10 October revision covered 10–12 October. KhabarWire’s 5 October account of Middle East crude flows set out how exports had recovered towards pre-war levels while staying exposed to such disruption.
Relief and conservation measures
The government has kept two cushions around prices that remain close to Rs400 a litre. On 13 September, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Rs100 off a litre of petrol for motorcycles, three-wheelers and cars with engines up to 800cc — a scheme covering an estimated 11.8 million beneficiaries. About 10 million two-wheeler users and 800,000 three-wheeler users can claim relief on 20 litres a month, worth up to Rs2,000 each, and about one million small-car users can claim 30 litres a month, worth up to Rs3,000.
On 17 September the government reinstated austerity and fuel-conservation measures: shops, markets and malls close by 9pm, marriage halls by 10pm and restaurants by 11pm, with takeaway and delivery exempt, while fuel allocations for official vehicles were cut by 50% for three months. KhabarWire set out the measures in its report on the revived austerity drive.
What is still uncertain
Three things remain open. First, the next revision is unknown; under daily pricing it will be set by the seven-day average of international prices and the landing costs of contracted cargoes, neither of which is published with the notification. Second, the full fiscal cost of the Rs100 relief scheme is not fixed in the public record, and subsidies of this kind sit awkwardly alongside Pakistan’s IMF programme. Third, crude’s direction remains hostage to the Middle East conflict: hopes of additional Russian diesel supply argue for lower prices, while continued strikes on Gulf infrastructure argue the opposite.
KhabarWire will update this page at the next notified revision, or sooner if the pricing framework itself changes.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of official price notifications and independent reporting, not eyewitness reporting. The new ex-depot rates, the effective date and the mechanics of the daily pricing framework are drawn from Dawn's, Geo News' and The Express Tribune's reports of the Petroleum Division notification. The official daily rates are published by OGRA. The crude-price and diesel-market context is from The Express Tribune. All sources were reviewed on 14 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). Figures are as notified and can change at the next daily review.
- Primary source — Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority: Notified Petroleum PricesUpdated with each daily notification · The regulator's official record of ex-depot petrol and high-speed diesel prices, including the 14 October revision.
- Independent source — Dawn: "Govt reduces petrol price by Rs2.71 per litre, high-speed diesel rate by Re0.03"Published 13 October 2026 · The new rates and effective date, the taxes and duties on petrol and diesel, the April price peaks and the government's austerity measures.
- Independent source — Geo News: "Petrol price cut by Rs2.71 per litre, diesel by Re0.03"Published 13 October 2026 · The new and previous rates for 14 October, the seven-day averaging basis, OGRA's daily publication of prices, and the revised FY2026-27 import arrangements.
- Independent source — The Express Tribune: "Govt cuts petrol by Rs2.71, diesel by 3 paisas for Oct 14"Published 13 October 2026 · Independent confirmation of the notification and effective date, the previous revision, the daily-pricing switch, and Tuesday's Brent and WTI prices.
