KARACHI: Pakistan on Thursday reduced the price of petrol by Rs3.63 ($0.013) per liter while marginally increasing the price of high-speed diesel, as the government continued daily fuel price adjustments amid volatility in global oil markets caused by the Middle East conflict.

The revised prices, effective Friday, October 16, set petrol at Rs390.23 ($1.41) per liter, down from Rs393.86 ($1.42), while high-speed diesel will cost Rs396.96 ($1.43) per liter, up by Rs0.31 from Rs396.65 ($1.43), according to a Petroleum Division notification.

The adjustment comes as Pakistan, which relies heavily on imported petroleum, faces elevated global energy costs and supply disruptions linked to the intensifying hostilities in the Middle East. The government recently introduced daily fuel price revisions to respond more quickly to changes in international markets.

“The change in price is necessitated by global events including changes in Platts rates, premiums, incidentals etc,” the Petroleum Division said in its notification.

The latest revision reverses a Rs1.20-per-liter increase in petrol prices announced for Thursday, when the government simultaneously reduced diesel prices by Rs0.17 per liter.

Petrol is widely used in motorcycles and private vehicles in Pakistan, while high-speed diesel powers trucks, buses and agricultural machinery, making its price an important factor in transportation costs and food inflation.

Global oil markets have remained under pressure from the prolonged Middle East conflict, which has disrupted energy supplies and shipping routes. Brent crude traded around $106 per barrel on Thursday, as markets weighed the risk of further disruptions.

The International Energy Agency said Thursday it would accelerate the release of emergency oil stocks, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel, to help ease supply pressures.

Pakistan has also introduced targeted fuel subsidies for motorcycle riders, rickshaw drivers and owners of small cars to cushion the impact of high petroleum prices on lower-income households.

The government has allocated Rs75 billion ($271 million) for the relief program, which officials say has reached more than 10 million individual beneficiaries.

Petrol and diesel prices in Pakistan remain substantially above their levels before the Middle East conflict escalated in late February, despite easing from peaks reached in early April.