Musadik Malik arrives in Karachi to hold talks with petroleum dealers

Karachi: Karachi State Minister for Petroleum, Musadik Malik on Friday urgently arrived at Pakistan State Oil (PSO) headquarters in the metropolitan city in a bid to respond to the nationwide strike call given by petroleum dealers.

Anticipating the strike on Saturday (tomorrow), State Minister for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, rushed to Karachi for emergency talks with the petroleum dealers at the PSO headquarters.

On Thursday, the petroleum dealers had declared their intention to close all petrol pumps nationwide starting at 6:00 am the following day, for an indefinite duration, until their demands are met by the federal government.

A delegation representing the petroleum dealers, led by Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chairman Samiullah Khan, also joined the discussions.

The negotiations focused on two main points - the dealers' commission increase and measures to curb diesel and petrol smuggling from Iran.

During the talks, Minister Malik offered a raise of Rs2.65 per litre to the dealers' margin, but the dealers insisted on a higher increase of Rs5 per litre in their commission. Despite discussions lasting for 1.5 hours, an agreement has not been reached yet.

Presently, the dealers' margin stands at Rs6 per litre on petroleum products, while they are demanding an additional Rs5 per litre hike in their commission.

The dealers' commission last year in November had been increased by more than 25%, reaching Rs7 per litre, up from Rs3 and Rs3.68 per litre on petrol and HSD, respectively.