Pakistan raises ’deemed duty’ on oil products

Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has decided to increase the “deemed duty” on petroleum products from 7.5%, to 10%, with a cap at US$80 per barrel, Business Recorder (Pakistan) reported. However, the government could withdraw the duty after three years if refiners are found to not be performing upgrade projects. Meanwhile, the Chief of the Fuel Section of the Planning Commission Arshad Maqsood proposed replacing the “deemed duty” with a processing fee for oil refineries which includes National Refiner Ltd. (NRL), Pakistan Refinery Ltd. (PRL), Attock Oil Refinery Ltd. and Bosicor Pakistan Ltd. (BPL). In addition, the ECC has recommended providing an additional amount of Rs1.2(US$0.02) per liter on high speed diesel (HSD) to recover the cost of hydro-desulfurization (HDS) projects. (April 22/ May 25, 2009)