Petrol, diesel prices hiked by Rs5.97, 4.51/lit

ISLAMABAD: Government has unleashed another spiral of prices by hiking the prices of petroleum products, Geo News reported Sunday.

According to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), price of petrol has been raised by Rs5.97 per litre to Rs72.96; diesel by Rs4.51 a litre to Rs78.33; High Octane by Rs7.11 a litre to Rs86.67; and the rate of Kerosene Oil has been hiked by Rs5.15 per litre to Rs70.95.

The price of Light Diesel has been fixed at Rs66.61 a litre and JP-1 Rs60.26 per litre, OGRA said.

E&P sector profits grow by 43.4pc

KARACHI: The country’s exploration and petroleum (E&P) sector posted a massive surge of 43.4 percent in its profitability, reaching Rs27.1 billion during the quarter ended on September 30, data compiled by InvestCap revealed on Saturday.

The listed E&P sector revenues increased by a significant 33 percent to Rs64.5 billion, primarily on account of favourable prices and volumetric growth.

On the price front, prevailing concerns over global economic recovery and consistent demand from the emerging economies translated into strengthening of metals, currencies and commodities during the period, it said.
This also resulted in Arab Light crude oil prices going up by 7.1 percent to an average around $74 per barrel, while augmenting further in the rupee terms by four percent.

The rise in the crude oil prices also reflected positively on the companies’ gas wellhead prices.

Group of OGDCL officials accused of favouritism

ISLAMABAD: Some of the senior officials of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) have been granting favours to a local private chemicals supply firm, Industrial Equipment Services (IE Services), said a report.

“The OGDCL officials are making all efforts to award contracts for unnecessary procurement” worth more than Rs178 million rupees, said the report written by a senior OGDCL official.

They want to purchase two vacuum trucks at a total cost of Rs130 million (Rs65 million each) and a mini-cementation lab costing around Rs48 million to IE Services, said the report, available with The News.
The report pointed out fraudulent deals of billions of rupees for the supply of chemicals and other materials to OGDCL by IE Services.
It made stunning disclosures about a group of officials violating company rules to provide opportunities to IE Services for securing supply contracts.

Surging oil threatens economic recovery

PARIS: Rising oil prices threaten to crimp recovery in the world’s leading economies, the International Energy Agency warned on Tuesday saying that unexpectedly strong activity could overheat the market. 

Higher prices and tighter lending conditions “could stall OECD economic recovery” the IEA said, referring to the 30 advanced economies of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Speculation driving oil prices: Qatar minister

DOHA: Qatar’s oil minister said on Tuesday that crude’s recent rally is driven mainly by speculation, not a shortage of supply, and dismissed the likelihood that OPEC would hold a special meeting to re-evaluate current production levels.

Crude prices have shot up 24 per cent since early February, building on growing investor confidence that the world’s nascent economic recovery will help fuel demand for oil. On Tuesday, the US benchmark crude futures contract for May delivery was hovering around $86 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, near its 18-month record high.

Oil surges to 18-month high

NEW YORK: Oil prices surged to 18-month highs on Monday, after data on Friday showed the United States added the most jobs in three years, boosting prospects for economic recovery in the top oil consumer.

US payrolls rose by 162,000 last month, the fastest rate in three years, Labor Department data showed on Friday. The US service sector grew in March at its fastest pace in nearly four years while pending home sales also rose, according to the ISM industry survey and a National Association of Realtors report on Monday.