ISLAMABAD: Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) Chief Executive Officer Adil Khattak has welcomed the government’s decision to introduce daily petroleum price notifications, saying the move is a step towards a more market-based pricing system. However, he cautioned that its success will depend on wider regulatory reforms.
Khattak, who is also chairperson of the Energy Committee of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI), urged the government to share the revised pricing mechanism, implementation roadmap, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) governing the new system with all stakeholders. Such measures, he said, will help ensure fairness, transparency, and a level playing field for all market participants, including the private sector.
According to Khattak, moving from fortnightly to weekly, and now daily, price notifications without addressing these underlying structural issues could increase price volatility, complicate inventory and cash-flow management, and create an uneven competitive environment.
“True deregulation is not simply a matter of announcing prices more frequently; it requires allowing market forces to operate within a transparent, predictable and equitable policy framework,” he said, adding that daily pricing should be viewed as one milestone in a broader reform agenda rather than an end in itself.
Khattak also acknowledged the consultative approach adopted by the petroleum minister, expressing hope that continued engagement with industry stakeholders will help ensure the reform’s success.
