—Minister claims some elements creating artificial shortage of fuel only to maximise their profits
–Orders cancellation of OMCs’ licences if anyone found negligent
–OCAC says ‘50pc growth in sales post-corona lockdown has caused depletion of stocks’
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan on Monday expressed concern over fuel shortage in the country and formed a committee to verify the availability of stocks and identify “black marketing and hoarding” by some elements.
Chairing a video conference at the Petroleum Division, the minister maintained that some elements created “artificial shortage of fuel across the country only to maximise their profits”, which caused inconvenience to the general public.
The meeting, attended among others by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and Secretary Petroleum Mian Asad Hayaud Din, discussed ways and means to mitigate the fuel demand and supply challenges, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Division.
The meeting decided to form a committee to identify bottlenecks in the country’s fuel supply chain.
It was also decided that “oil marketing companies shall not be allowed to ration supplies of petroleum products to retail outlets” and stern action would be taken against those dealers involved in overcharging and hoarding.
The meeting decided that OMCs would not be allowed to cancel or defer their planned cargoes for June 2020, while oil refineries should be directed to produce their committed volume of petroleum products.
“OMCs must move Mogas from Karachi ports to main consumption centres immediately. In this regard, a committee has also formed to inspect OMCs installations/depots to verify their stocks, physically. The license of OMC(s) will be cancelled by the regulator if anyone found negligent,” the Petro Division’s statement read. “Besides, OMCs must ensure additional supplies to Malakand, Faisalabad and Hyderabad Divisions.”
The minister also asked the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) to issue a ‘press statement’ indicating that sufficient stocks of petrol were available in the country and all import of petroleum products was lined up to meet the demand.
OGRA was given a task to deploy vigilance teams in the field to verify available stocks of OMCs, depots and retail outlets.
The meeting also stressed that additional production by refineries as well as planned imports should be as per schedule aimed at meeting the monthly needs, observing that useable stocks of 214,536 Metric Tonnes of petrol were available in the country, which was sufficient for 10 days.
The meeting vowed to take proactive and appropriate actions jointly by the Petroleum Division, OGRA and all relevant stakeholders, including the provincial government, to normalize the fuel supply situation across the country.
EXCESSIVE DEMAND POST LOCKDOWN:
Meanwhile, on behalf of OMCs and refineries operating in Pakistan, the OCAC has informed that the current stocks of petrol (motor gasoline) were continuously being replenished by OMCs from supplies being made available through local refineries and regular arrival of vessels carrying imported petrol at the two ports: Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Fauji Oil Terminal Company (FOTCO) at Port Qasim Authority (PQA).
In a statement issued on Monday, OCAC informed, “For the month of June, a total of around 850,000 metric tonnes (MT) of petrol is being supplied from local refineries and imports to the distribution & retail network of the country. The current sales of petrol in the country are exceptionally high (50pc growth) due to the easing of Covid-19 lockdown in the past few weeks, causing depletion of stocks and low price of the product.”
The council further stated that the average sales of petrol for the period July 2019 to May 2020 were around 600,000MT per month, which translates to sales of around 20,000MT per day. However, for the reasons mentioned above, a high surge of sales and consumption of 30,000MT per day had been experienced in the first six days of June 2020.
“This sudden increase of 50pc in consumption is being complemented by the industry through additional imports in the months of June and July while there are few pockets of constrained supplies in some parts of the country. However, the Petroleum Division, Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), local refineries & oil marketing companies are working round the clock to mitigate the situation.”
The council said that in view of an adequate quantity of petrol being arranged through the petroleum products supply-chain, the consumers are requested to fill up their vehicles as per their normal needs and do not resort to excessive buying.
