OGRA is responsible for locating areas where fuel is being hoarded.
Identifies 19 illegal depots in Punjab; Musadik asserts there are sufficient supplies of fuel.
ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has identified 19 unlawful storage points and warehouses located in Punjab that have been used to dump and store petroleum products to earn inventory profits by hoarders and black marketers.
In a letter issued to the Punjab chief secretary, the regulator noted that the unlawful storages and warehouses were being used to dump the items and contributing towards the recent oil crisis.
It has directed the chief secretary to take prompt action against the criminals involved in this illegal act of storing petroleum products.
Ogra in a statement stated that it has asked the chief secretary (Punjab) to take stern action against the illegal hoarders and shared the list of illicit petrol/diesel storage detected through market intelligence to avoid deliberate scarcity in the province.
The authority has also deployed its enforcement teams to examine storages and ensure smooth delivery of petroleum products in the province.
The storages are located in Gujrat, Kharian, Machike Sheikhupura, 18-Hazari, Shorkot, Darbar Sultan Bahu, Road Sultan 18-Hazari Jhang, Mehmood Kot, near oil depot Habibabad Pattoki, near oil depot Vehari, at Jassar Bypass in Narowal.
The government maintains that the oil crisis is contrived and hoarders were involved in it. According to official numbers issued by the Petroleum Division, the country has stocks of 363,085 metric tonnes fuel which is sufficient to cover the country’s 20-day demands.
It further added that there had been 515,687 metric tonnes available in the country adequate to cover 29-day demand of the country.
The country had encountered oil crises multiple times in the past. However, the Petroleum Division was unable to chalk out any strategy to solve the situation.
In the past, there has been concerns with the supply of the product. However, this time the product is available but the government and the regulator are unable to regulate the shortfall.
The oil regulator had slapped multimillion rupee fines on oil marketing corporations in the past. But despite this, dealers of the oil marketing firms continue sucking money from consumers by creating artificial shortage in the country.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said the government was not planning to boost fuel prices and advised oil companies against storing petrol after some consumers reported they had been unable to purchase fuel at pumps.
The minister assured the media that the country has enough fuel to last at least 20 days, in line with statutory requirements, and any consumer shortages were due to stockpiling by oil marketing corporations.
“I am demanding and warning corporations… their licences will be taken away,” the minister stated.
A member of Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) told Reuters that just a few of the permitted companies are selling fuel while the others are not either owing to financial concerns or due to stockpiling.
He noted that while the petroleum ministry is assisting process letters of credits to import fuels, the country’s low foreign exchange reserves and artificial limits remain an impediment.
Some consumers in Punjab stated petrol outlets were shuttered and others were limiting the quantity people could buy. Ali Malik, a trader and Punjab native, said he visited the cities of Sialkot, Wazirabad and Lahore in the recent few days where he had difficulty to fill up his vehicle.
“I travelled to Sialkot where I found the bulk of petrol stations closed. When I saw a functioning petrol station, I could not get more than eight litres,” he claimed, adding he has had similar challenges in other towns.
Abdul Sami Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association, indicated that the scarcity is not from the dealers and said they had not gotten enough supply from oil marketing corporations. “Consumers think we’re not giving them fuel and they blame us — but we aren’t being supplied enough,” he said.
Also, the LPG hoarders were generating money by stockpiling the commodity in the country. LPG Distributors Association Chairman Irfan Khokhar questioned the state minister for petroleum claiming no LPG was available at stated price in the country. He said that a state-owned gas company was purportedly involved in black marketing of the commodity.
