Petroleum Division, OGRA fail to end petrol, HSD shortage

ISLAMABAD – Despite availability of enough Petrol and HSD stock in the country, the Petroleum Division and OGRA have failed to en­sure its availability at the petrol pumps.

The government and the reg­ulator, instead of taking a stern action against the OMC/oil deal­ers, still seems to be heavily re­lying on warnings and advices.

The Petroleum Division Fri­day said that it will take a strict action including the cancella­tion of licenses of the oil com­panies involved in the profi­teering.

It is worth to mention here that since the reduction of pe­troleum prices in May the coun­try was first struck by the High Speed Diesel crisis and now for the last one week there were complaints of petrol shortage across the country. Since Mon­day night, petrol pumps in some parts of the country had dried up and the pumps with the petrol stocks witnessed long queues of vehicles.

Pak-Afghan Chaman border reopened

Pak-Afghan Chaman border reopened

It is worth to mention here that none of the OMCs except PSO is maintaining the requisite 20-day stocks but no action has been taken against any of the OMC so far.

The spokesman of the Petro­leum Division said that it is cog­nizant of the artificial shortage of POL products that is being created in the country by some OMCs and Petrol Dealers.

Petroleum Division emphat­ically stated that there is a suf­ficient quantity of petrol stocks in the country. Additional pro­duction by refineries as well as planned imports is on schedule to meet the monthly needs.

It is unfortunate that some OMCs and/or their dealers have resorted to such methods for profit maximization that is causing shortages for the gener­al public.

However, appropriate actions are being taken jointly by Petro­leum Division, Oil Gas Regu­latory Authority, Competition Commission of Pakistan and all relevant stakeholders, includ­ing the Provincial Governments proactively normalize the situa­tion.

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The spokesman said that Pe­troleum Division is in contact with all OMCs and most OMCs do not have any major shortag­es. Shell and Total Parco are low on stocks but their addition­al imports are arriving on 8-10 June after which their stocks will also be replenished.

The Petroleum Division urg­es the Public at large and pet­rol dealers to not engage in pan­ic buying.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/06-Jun-2020/petroleum-division-ogra-fail-to-end-petrol-hsd-shortage