Category: Latest News

ISLAMABAD: Five major Pakistani cities have been ranked among the world’s 10 least resilient cities to climate risk, highlighting the country’s growing vulnerability to extreme heat and other climate-related threats. Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi featured among the 10 least resilient cities in a new assessment covering 72 major urban centres worldwide. The report, prepared by Singapore-based geospatial analytics company AlphaGeo, assesses cities based on physical climate exposure and their capacity to adapt to associated risks. According to the ranking, Hyderabad was placed second, Multan third, Lahore fifth, Faisalabad…

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries are facing mounting financial and operational pressure from repeated changes to the high-speed diesel (HSD) pricing mechanism, with industry stakeholders warning that another downward intervention could make diesel imports and crude procurement commercially unviable, reduce refinery utilisation and eventually disrupt petroleum supplies. Industry officials said the problem already exists under the current capped HSD pricing arrangement, which does not adequately reflect the actual cost of imported crude and finished diesel cargoes. Any further reduction in the pricing benchmark could widen the gap…

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil refining sector is facing renewed financial pressure as gross refining margins (GRMs) fell to around $11 per barrel in September, well below the five-year average of $13.5 per barrel, amid a sharp rise in crude premiums and worsening furnace oil economics. According to a research report by Sherman Securities, refinery GRMs had averaged around $33 per barrel in August 2026, making the September decline particularly severe. The brokerage attributed the deterioration mainly to a $12–15 per barrel increase in supplier crude premiums for September and October deliveries…

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to receive a much-needed boost to its LNG supplies after a Qatari cargo successfully crossed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz amid heightened regional tensions. The LNG carrier Al Marrouna, carrying approximately 81,936 metric tons of LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal, transited the Strait of Hormuz on September 7 under Pakistan’s government-to-government LNG arrangement with Qatar. A senior Petroleum Division official said the vessel is expected to reach Port Qasim within two days, where it will berth at the Engro LNG terminal. The arrival is…

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KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed an opposition resolution calling on the federal government to abolish the petroleum levy, citing rising fuel prices and their impact on inflation and the public. The resolution was moved by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) lawmaker Muhammad Farooq amid the party’s nationwide protests against rising petroleum prices. Responding to the resolution, Sindh Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said the matter fell within the jurisdiction of the federal government and the provincial assembly could not abolish the levy itself. The resolution was subsequently…

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