Petrol pump owners ‘split’ over strike after govt talks

• Association’s one group defers strike after govt assurance
• APPPOA president claims govt talks ended without breakthrough, announces indefinite strike
• Govt promises to review daily fuel pricing after two-week trial
• Assures consultation on dealers’ margins, other demands

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday succeeded in dividing the All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) and persuading one group to postpone its strike call for two weeks with a promise to resolve its genuine issues through mutual consultations.

On the other hand, the chairman and vice chairman of the same association insisted that the talks had failed and that they would go ahead with the strike from midnight, sharing footage of closed petrol pumps.

A day earlier, the association had announced that it would shut down around 15,000 petrol stations nationwide from Wednesday night after the first round of negotiations with the government over daily petroleum pricing and dealers’ commission failed.

Besides opposing daily pricing, dealers are demanding an eight per cent commission, which now works out at about Rs25 per litre instead of the existing Rs8.64 on both petrol and diesel, as well as an end to supply quotas imposed by oil marketing companies.

The government team, led by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, Petroleum Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Shaikh and acting chairman of the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Nabeel Awan, did not make any firm commitment on the specifics of any of the three demands but promised to make joint efforts to ensure a transparent and fair system.

After the talks on Wednesday evening, APPPOA Information Secretary Nadeem Aziz Khan announced that the strike call for the shutdown of petrol pumps had been postponed for two weeks to save the public from hardship, following assurances from the petroleum minister.

He said the minister had promised that the government would implement daily petroleum pricing “for two weeks on a trial basis” and review after a fortnight the “merits and demerits” it might bring.

Khan said the government had also promised to increase dealers’ margins, which have remained unchanged since 2022. The assurance, he added, was also put in writing after a “detailed session” with the petroleum minister on the issues faced by the association.

Conspicuously, APPPOA Chairman Humayun Khan and Vice Chairman Noman Butt, who had announced the strike call a day earlier, slipped quietly out of the Petroleum Division after the talks. Noman Butt, who had been sharing the association’s views and decisions, could not be reached on his phone, while Humayun Khan, in a recorded message, asked dealers to stay united and continue the strike as their demands had not been met.

In a press release, APPPOA chairman insisted that the negotiations with the government remained inconclusive and failed to produce any meaningful outcome. “The government did not accept any of our legitimate demands, nor did it present any practical progress. Therefore, the association stands by its previously announced decision to begin an indefinite nationwide strike,” he added.

Nadeem Khan noted that the association had made no illegitimate demands but was seeking a legitimate right that had remained pending since 2022.

The petroleum minister said that after another round of negotiations with the APPPOA, it had been decided to defer the strike call as the government assured stakeholders that their grievances would be addressed within the next two weeks.

He said the issue of dealers’ margins would be resolved through consultations with all stakeholders, adding that a summary in this regard would be submitted to the federal cabinet for consideration. He further said that the government would review the daily fuel pricing mechanism with stakeholders from the petroleum sector after two weeks.

Informed sources said the minister told dealers in unequivocal terms that their demand for an almost threefold increase in dealers’ margins — from Rs8.64 per litre to Rs25 — was totally unreasonable and, therefore, unacceptable, particularly when fuel prices were already affecting consumers. However, he said, a reasonable increase would be allowed, keeping in view the impact of inflation.

Malik said OGRA would start publishing fuel prices on its website and that the price breakup would also be provided in Urdu for the sake of transparency.

Daily fuel pricing

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) opposed any increase in dealers’ margins and called upon the government to end daily fuel pricing, saying it had created problems for the public as well as other stakeholders.

PBF Chief Organiser Ahmad Jawad said Pakistan was already grappling with high inflation, escalating business costs and prolonged economic uncertainty, and that any disruption in the supply of petroleum products would not only cause severe inconvenience to the public but also adversely affect industrial production, trade, transportation, agriculture and the country’s entire supply chain.

The PBF chief organiser also called upon the federal government to immediately withdraw its decision to introduce daily revisions in petroleum prices.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026 ...