ISLAMABAD – Petrol pumps across Pakistan are said to be closed indefinitely from 12:00 tonight as talks between All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (APPDA) and Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik ended without an agreement.

In a video message, APPDA leader Humayun Khan said that petroleum dealers have no option but to go on a nationwide strike, adding that it has become financially impossible to run petrol pumps under the current structure.

“Our business can no longer survive. We have nothing left after expenses,” Khan said. “Our commission is only Rs 8 per litre. We have been running at a loss for months, and we will not bear this loss. If this situation continues, petrol pumps will start closing permanently in the next two months.”

After talks with the petroleum minister ended, the association said all petrol pumps across the country would remain closed from midnight until the government conceded to their demands.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Humayun criticized the government’s fuel pricing policy, accusing officials of making small daily hikes in petroleum prices to avoid criticism of big hikes, and alleged that the public was being misled while dealers faced ever-increasing financial losses.

Pakistan has initiated a major overhaul of its petroleum pricing mechanism by revising fuel prices daily to respond quickly to fluctuations in the global oil market to accelerate global oil market volatility due to US-Iran tensions.

The federal government has transferred daily ex-depot petroleum pricing to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), replacing the previous pricing model as part of a broader strategy to deregulate the downstream oil sector and increase transparency.

New fuel prices: Petrol Rs 316.15, Diesel Rs 354.35