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The country’s shortage of diesel and gasoline was strongly denied by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday.
After a large number of people flocked to the pumps and frantically purchased the product, OGRA spokesperson Imran Ghaznavi clarified in a press release that “sufficient stocks of petrol and diesel are available across the country.”
He claimed that the nation had enough gasoline and diesel supplies to last 18 and 37 days, respectively.
The spokesperson continued, “Ships carrying 101,000 (tonnes) of gasoline are furthermore at berth/outer anchorage.”
The neighbourhood refineries, according to Ghaznavi, were “playing their due role” in supplying the demand for petroleum products.
It should be noted that yesterday, people started to rush towards the fuel pumps amid the rumours of petrol and diesel shortage. Long queues of vehicles outside nearly every petrol pump were reported to be observed in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.
Moreover, the Petroleum Dealers Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chairman said that there was no fuel at 50% of the petrol pumps in Peshawar.
The speculations were strengthened as the power restoration in the country witnessed an unprecedented delay plunging the whole country into the dark.
It may also be noted that earlier, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) had denied any speculation regarding the fuel shortage in the country by stating to have “ample stocks available in the supply chain as per OGRA specified days cover.”
Fears regarding the supply of petroleum began to sprout earlier as well in the oil industry after banks refused to settle letters of credit (LCs) for the import of crude and petroleum products.
The chain of petroleum products would take six to eight weeks to normalise in the country if it was compromised on the basis of the refusal of banks to settle LCs for the import of crude and petroleum products, the oil industry feared.
These fears were expressed by the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) – the representative body of refineries and oil marketing companies (OMCs) — to the Ministry of Finance.
The OCAC sought the ministry’s intervention in the matter after its members started facing issues in the settlement of LCs. This occurred despite the fact that oil imports have been put on the list of essential items for opening and settlement of credit letters.
