People had to wait in never-ending queues for getting their vehicles fuelled while the government maintained that that there was no petroleum shortage and 100,000 tonnes of petrol reserves were available in the country.
An official source said that the delay in the import consignments of petroleum products earlier this month was expected to cause supply chain problems in Punjab during the current month. The government has already defused the crisis by opening up CNG stations in the province, which agreed to pay the gas price at par with the imported LNG.
The petrol supply chain will be restored completely by the end of the current month when the Pakistan State Oil imports arrive. However, the source said it was essential that the private oil marketing companies were closely monitored for maintaining their oil supply and storage quota as per their license conditions.
According to a Petroleum Ministry statement, “it has been observed that few electronic media outlets have been propagating unfounded news about the shortage of petrol in the country. This baseless news has spread chaos and confusion among the people. The ministry in close contact with all the stakeholders and no stone will be left unturned for a sustained and unremitting supply of petroleum products all over the country.”
“The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources denies in strongest terms the contents of these baseless stories. Rather, the ground reality is that there is no shortage of petrol anywhere in the country. Presently, the country has around 100,000 tonnes stock of petrol in reserve that can cater the current requirements of the country of which 61,000 tonnes of petrol is readily available in the upcountry.”
“The ministry also rebuts the news on delay or hindrances in the imports of petrol. All the imports are scheduled and will reach on time. A Pakistan State Oil vessel has reached last night carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrol while Shell Pakistan Limited vessel has been docked today. Moreover, total import plan for the month of June, 2015 was 393,000 tonnes, so for 155,563 tonnes already imported while 237,437 tonnes is planned to be import from 16th to 30th June, 2015.”
