The All Pakistan Petrol Pump Owners Association on Wednesday postponed its planned nationwide shutdown for two weeks following successful negotiations with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, who assured dealers that their long-pending concerns would be addressed. 

Amid volatility in global oil prices following renewed hostilities in the Middle East, the government last week switched to a daily fuel price review mechanism. Under the new system, daily prices are based on a seven-day average of international market rates to align with international standards. 

A day earlier, the association met the petroleum minister and demanded an increase in its profit margin and the abolition of the daily fuel price revision mechanism. However, the meeting failed to yield any result, prompting the All Pakistan Petrol Pump Owners Association to announce a nationwide shutdown of petrol pumps from Tuesday night. 

Read: Petrol pump owners announce nationwide shutdown after talks with govt fail

Addressing a joint press conference with the minister, association secretary Nadeem Khan said the decision to withdraw the strike call was made in view of the escalating regional crisis and the potential hardship it could cause the public.

"We reconsidered our decision keeping in view the escalating crisis caused by the war situation and the difficulties faced by the people," he said.

Khan said the minister had assured the association that its long-pending demand for a review of dealers' profit margins, which had been awaiting action since 2022, would be addressed. He said the assurance had also been formalised through a written agreement.

"We have complete confidence in Ali Pervaiz Sahab and hope that our commission-related issue will be resolved," he said.

Referring to the government's daily petroleum pricing mechanism, the secretary said the minister had also assured the association that the policy would continue on a trial basis for two weeks, after which its merits and demerits would be reviewed.

He said the government would assess whether the mechanism caused undue difficulties for the public before deciding whether to continue or reconsider it.

Based on these assurances, Khan said, the association had decided to postpone its shutdown call to spare the public from inconvenience, expressing hope that its outstanding issues would be resolved after the two-week review period.

Addressing the presser, Malik acknowledged the difficulties being faced by both consumers and petrol pump dealers because of rising oil prices.

Also Read: Dealers seek 8% margin amid daily fuel pricing

He thanked petrol pump dealers, their association and oil marketing companies for supporting the government during difficult times.

The minister said the region was once again facing the threat of war, which had created renewed pressure on oil prices.

"In this situation, we have collectively decided to move forward in a transparent and fair manner during this difficult period," he said.

Malik added that, with the assistance of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the government would begin publishing a detailed Urdu-language breakdown of every component contributing to petroleum price increases on the regulator's website to ensure greater transparency.

The minister said the government would hold detailed meetings with oil marketing companies (OMCs), the Explosives Department and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to address the issues faced by petrol pump dealers.

He also assured the association that its long-pending demand for a revision of dealers' profit margins would be taken up. He said a roadmap would be prepared and a summary sent to the cabinet so that dealers could meet their legitimate operating costs through an appropriate margin.

"On behalf of the ministry and the Ogra chairman, I assure these colleagues that the issue, which has remained unresolved for several years, will be settled within the next two weeks, and we hope to share this good news with them as soon as possible," he said.

Malik said that if the matter remained unresolved after the two-week period, the government would hold another round of consultations with the association and make every effort to resolve the issue.