• Federal cabinet members insist prudent planning averted a worse crisis
• PM’s fuel relief scheme set for nationwide rollout from midnight
• Local resources kept lights on amid Hormuz disruption, says Leghari
• Rs100 relief per litre is all economy can bear right now: Musadik
• Govt denies ‘smart lockdown’ rumours as fuel costs spiral

ISLAMABAD: With Gulf energy transit routes effectively closed and fuel prices spiralling, members of the federal cabinet on Tuesday sounded the alarm regarding the energy situation in the country — both in terms of fuel supplies and power generation — while maintaining that things could have been much worse, if not for prudent planning on the government’s part.

Giving a rundown of the way disruptions in the Hormuz and Bab El-Mandeb straits could have exacerbated prevailing shortages, Energy Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik highlighted how skyrocketing prices on the international oil market were testing the government’s ability to absorb such price shocks.

Meanwhile, the National Steering Com­mittee on Fuel Subsidy — chaired by Deputy PM Ishaq Dar — ordered that payments to fuel stations under the PM’s sch­eme be processed within 24 hours, while directing provinces to complete dist­rict-level outreach to ensure seamless delivery of relief to the intended beneficiaries.

According to an official statement, the meeting was held to review the nationwide rollout of the PM’s Fuel Relief Scheme, and noted that following a successful pilot in the capital, the scheme would be extended countrywide from midnight tonight, i.e. between Wedn­esday and Thursday.

Absorbing price shocks

Addressing a press conference in the capital, the climate change minister linked the recent increase in fuel prices to the upward movement in international crude oil prices, which had crossed the $100 per barrel threshold once again.

The price of oil has not come down and the US/Israel-Iran war has not stopped, he said, adding that the government was seeking to absorb part of the external sho­ck to protect vulnerable segments of society, referring to the PM’s Fuel Relief Scheme.

Under the scheme, motorcyclists would receive five litres of subsidised petrol every week, while car owners would be entitled to 10 litres every 10 days.

The minister clarified that the petroleum levy was Rs80 per litre and the carbon levy Rs5, making a combined Rs85, while the relief announced under the scheme was Rs100 per litre.

He conceded that the relief being provided was still insufficient to fully offset the impact of high fuel prices, but maintained that this burden was the most the national economy could currently absorb.

Giving an example, Dr Musadik said delivery riders had been particularly affected by higher petrol prices as they continued to travel the same distances to deliver food and other goods while their fuel costs had increased substantially.

He said a relief of Rs2,000 could make a significant difference to a low-income delivery riders household by helping meet basic expenses such as food, milk and eggs.

The minister also cited the example of a woman who drives a Qingqi rickshaw to support her family. He said the Rs2,000 monthly fuel relief could help her meet her child’s school fee.

Another beneficiary, drives an 800cc car to a factory while his wife uses the same vehicle to take their children to school. He would receive relief on up to 30 litres of petrol, amounting to Rs3,000 a month, he added.

In a separate statement, the energy minister echoed his cabinet colleague’s warnings about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that despite fuel shortages, Pakistan was able to keep its power plants whirring thanks to maximum utilisation of domestic resources.

In August 2026, 72 per cent of total electricity generation was sourced from domestic resources, including hydel (38pc), local coal (11pc), nuclear (10pc), local gas (7pc), wind (6pc) and solar energy (1pc), while only 28pc came from imported coal and RLNG, he said.

Mr Leghari said that due to disruptions in the RLNG supply chain, spot cargo prices had risen to $23.25 per MMBtu, which was exceptionally high.

In these circumstances, he said, steps taken on the PM’s directives to arrange additional domestic gas for the power sector made it possible to avoid purchasing expensive RLNG.

If domestic gas had not been available, the power sector would have faced an additional hour of load shedding, he said. Moreover, generation through furnace oil or imported RLNG would have increased overall consumer tariffs by around Rs 10.6bn.

Lockdown rumours

Fuel prices continued to spiral, with both petrol and diesel witnessing Rs4 and Rs6 increase on Tuesday night. The series of steep increases over the past three days, taken together with Information Minister Atta Tarar’s hint that austerity measures may be reintroduced in view of the developing situation, sparked speculation about possible lockdown-style measures being imposed.

However, both Musadik Malik and his cabinet colleague Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry brushed aside these reports, with the former insisting that no discussions about ‘smart lockdowns’ had taken place, and the latter flat out refuting all such speculation.

The government had already imposed a similar smart lockdown in the country in April with the help of provincial governments when the US-Iran war started. During that period, shops and markets were closed at 8pm.

Interestingly, sources close to PM Shahbaz told Dawn that the premier met his elder brother Nawaz Sharif at the Murree hill resort on Tuesday, with the possibility of imposing measures such as ‘smart lockdown’ being on the agenda. However, there was no official word on the meeting from PM Office or PML-N.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2026