ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has increased the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs6.41 per liter for the next 24 hours, the Petroleum Division said late Tuesday, citing global supply disruptions and fluctuations in the international oil market.

The development came after prices for some physical oil cargoes in Europe jumped to more than $130 a barrel, approaching record highs reached in April, as buyers rushed to find alternatives to Middle East supplies facing increasing disruptions from an intensifying US-Iran conflict in the region.

The situation has forced Pakistan to consistently raise fuel prices, though the country’s top economic decision-making body on Monday approved a Rs75 billion [$271 million] fuel subsidy scheme as the government attempts to mitigate the impact of the inflationary pressure created by the US-Iran war.

However, the Pakistani government on Tuesday increased the price of petrol by Rs4.10 to Rs384.34 ($1.39) per liter and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs6.41 to Rs415.83 ($1.5) per liter for the next 24 hours.

“The change in price is necessitated by global events, including changes in Platts rates (daily benchmark price assessments for commodities), premiums, incidentals etc,” the Petroleum Division said in its notification.

Pakistan last week announced Rs100 ($0.36) subsidy on 20 liters of petrol per month for two-wheelers and three-wheelers. These include motorcycles, rickshaws, and qingqis.

Similarly, owners of small vehicles of up to 800cc will be provided the same subsidy on 30 liters of petrol per month.

On Monday, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said Pakistan’s government wanted to provide relief to salaried and middle-class people in a dignified manner.

“They will be able to get fuel at approximately the same price that existed before the war, while the government is purchasing fuel at twice that price,” Malik said, adding that private-sector refineries had positively responded to their request to change the pricing formula for refined products.

Petrol price peaked to Rs458.41 ($1.65) per liter in April from Rs266 ($0.96) per liter in the first week of March, while diesel peaked to Rs520.35 ($1.88) per liter from Rs281 ($1.01) after the US-Iran war broke out in late Feb.