The federal government has announced new petroleum prices for Saturday, July 18, 2026. The revised rates take effect from midnight tonight.

What are the new prices?

• Petrol (MS-92): Rs 315.71 per litre (up Rs 5 from Rs 310.71)
• High-Speed Diesel (HSD): Rs 353.30 per litre (up Rs 30 from Rs 323.30)

Why diesel went up so much

The Rs 30 increase on diesel is the bigger story of the two. Diesel is what runs the trucks, buses, tractors, and freight network that move the country, so a Rs 30 jump in a single revision has knock-on effects across transport costs, food prices, and freight rates that go well beyond the headline number. The reason is mostly international. Diesel Platts has been climbing sharply over the last week, driven by the renewed escalation between the United States and Iran and the renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is the chokepoint for a meaningful share of global diesel and product trade. When international diesel prices move like this, the domestic price has to follow, because Pakistan imports the bulk of its diesel requirements.

Why petrol went up only Rs 5

Petrol has also been moving up on the international benchmarks, but the increase has been more measured than for diesel, which is why the domestic revision is Rs 5 rather than something larger. Petrol Platts has climbed from around $89 per barrel to nearly $100 per barrel in the last week, and the new daily pricing mechanism that the federal cabinet approved today is designed to make these smaller daily adjustments easier to absorb than a single large weekly hike would have been.

What this means for you

For a typical car owner filling up a 40-litre tank, the new petrol price adds about Rs 200 to a full tank compared to last week. For a commercial diesel user running a truck or a bus fleet, the Rs 30 jump is meaningful, and freight operators in particular will be watching the next few daily price revisions closely to see whether the Rs 30 move is the start of a trend or a one-off adjustment. For households using kerosene or light diesel oil for cooking or small generators, the revisions on those products are usually notified at the same time, and the relevant figures should be in the full Petroleum Division notification.

How this fits with the new daily pricing system

Today’s announcement is also a test of the new daily pricing mechanism that the federal cabinet approved at a press conference earlier in the day. The shift to daily pricing means that future revisions could come every 24 hours rather than on a weekly or fortnightly cycle, so the prices you see at the pump tomorrow may not be the prices you see the day after. The first few daily revisions will set the tone for how this new system works in practice, and whether the experience of paying for fuel becomes more volatile or more predictable than it has been historically.

Bottom line

Petrol: Rs 315.71 per litre, up Rs 5. Diesel: Rs 353.30 per litre, up Rs 30. The new rates are effective from midnight tonight, Saturday, July 18, 2026, and apply uniformly across the country. The increase is driven mainly by the international benchmarks, which have been climbing in the last week on the back of the renewed US-Iran escalation and the Strait of Hormuz situation.

For the new daily pricing system announced today, our federal cabinet daily pricing announcement coverage walks through the related policy. For the previous week’s revision, our petrol hike July 11 coverage is relevant. For the petroleum levy and PPSF context, our PPSF coverage is useful. For the broader pricing reform, our OGRA daily regulation coverage is related.

Source: Petroleum Division official price notification, July 17, 2026; OGRA notified petroleum prices.