PM returns, petrol still missing

• Sharif suspends four officials including petroleum secy, additional secy, Oil DG, PSO MD over petrol crisis
• Govt decides to reopen CNG stations in Lahore, gas supply to filling stations in other Punjab cities won’t be restored immediately
• Petroleum minister refuses to own responsibility for crisis, says situation will improve in a week

As the petrol shortage worsened and most filling stations remained closed for the third consecutive day in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and the federal capital, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hit the ground running on his arrival from Saudi Arabia and suspended four senior officials, including the petroleum secretary and managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

Meanwhile, the government announced that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations would be reopened in Lahore to facilitate citizens who are badly-hit by the acute shortage of petrol.

Soon after arriving from his visit to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Sharif took notice of the fuel shortage in the country and called a meeting of senior officials at the airport. Four officials held responsible for the crisis were suspended, while instructions were given to provincial governments to check the sale of petrol in the black market. Further, measures were taken to expedite the supply and delivery of fuel.

The four suspended officials include Petroleum Secretary Abid Saeed, Petroleum Additional Secretary Naeem Malik, Oil Director General Muahmaad Azam and PSO MD Amjad Janjua.

The fuel crisis in Punjab, KP and Azad Kashmir took a turn for the worse as increasing number of petrol pumps dried up and hundreds queued up outside the 10 per cent fuel stations that remained open in various cities.

On Twitter, anger was directed at the PM with the hashtag #NawazPetrolDonoGhayab, as Sharif was in Saudi Arabia.

The country is left with oil stock of less than three days and its import has totally dried up as the PSO defaulted on its payments and says it will need at least Rs 100 billion and eight weeks’ time to resolve the crisis.

According to PSO officials, no oil consignment has arrived at any port in the country for the past two weeks, whereas usually six to eight ships, each carrying 65,000 tons of oil, come to the country in a fortnight.

CNG FOR LAHORIS:

In the meanwhile, CNG stations have already started to reopen in parts of Lahore after Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif telephoned Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and requested him to restore CNG supply to Punjab and Potohar regions.

Confirming the reopening of CNG stations, CNG Association Chairman Ghayas Paracha said the association has received instructions from the authorities concerned.

“CNG stations in Potohar region are being reopened immediately,” he said.

Sources said that it has also been decided that CNG filling stations across Punjab would remain open till the petrol crisis is reined in.

UNCERTAINTY OVER CNG TO OTHER CITIES:

Petroleum Minister Abbasi told reporters later in the evening that due to scarcity of gas, supply to CNG stations across Punjab was not possible therefore the government had decided to restore supply to stations in Lahore only for the time being. However, in case of availability of additional gas, supply to other cities will be considered, he added.

The minister admitted that the reopening of CNG stations might affect the gas supply to domestic consumers residing in the vicinity of the stations but added that “the government’s priority will be to serve domestic consumers”.

He said that the petrol crisis will be solved “within five to eight days” as the government is making all-out efforts to improve supply. However, the minister dodged questions on why he should not be sent packing for failing to anticipate the increase in demand for petrol in wake of decreasing prices and closure of CNG in Punjab for four months.

He said that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has issued notices to oil companies for not fulfilling their obligations.

Regarding improvement in supply, Abbasi said that 52,000 metric tons of petrol will reach the country on Saturday, while Shell will also import 20,000 tonnes of petrol on Sunday, adding that LNG import will also start by the end of March.

The minister had earlier said at a press briefing that fuel shortage is limited to Northern Punjab and KP and that there was no shortage of high speed diesel.