Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan expressed deep concerns about the country’s fuel shortage and formed a committee to verify stock availability and identify ‘black marketing and hoarding’ by certain elements.
The minister, chairing a video conference at the Petroleum Division, maintained that certain individuals created “artificial fuel shortages across the country only to increase their income,” which caused public inconvenience.
The minister also asked the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) to issue a ‘press release’ claiming that there were enough fuel stocks available in the country and that all imports of petroleum products were coordinated to meet the demand. OGRA was given the task of deploying vigilance teams in the field to verify the stocks of OMCs, depots and retail outlets that were available.
The meeting also stressed that additional production by refineries as well as planned imports should be targeted at meeting the monthly needs as per schedule, noting that useable stocks of 214,536 metric tons of petrol were available in the country, which was enough for 10 days.
The meeting vowed to jointly take proactive and appropriate action by the Petroleum Division, OGRA and all relevant stakeholders, including the provincial government, to normalize the countrywide fuel supply situation.
Extracted from City42 News
