ISLAMABAD: Jet fuel shortage is now on the horizon as poor planning and mismanagement has disrupted refineries and jeopardized their operations.
This follows an earlier decision of pulling the plug on furnace oil usage in power plants by the government, which caused havoc and raised nightmares for local refineries like Byco and Attock which then warned of imminent closure of their operations.
Due to this crisis, the oil industry is unable to meet full demand of defence and aviation aircraft, reported Dawn.
Several letters penned by the defence authorities have been dispatched to concerned authorities to monitor fuel supplies required for air-force. On another note, state-owned Pakistan State Oil has also issued a warning of imminent fuel shortage at upcountry airports.
PSO said it had forwarded more than five warnings to petroleum ministry regarding forthcoming dry-outs at airports which could force Civil Aviation Authority to declare NOTAM – a situation where a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) is issued to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.
In its last letter addressed to petroleum ministry, PSO informed refineries weren’t supplying required aviation fuels, as JP-8 is used in defence aircrafts and JP-1 is utilized by airlines.
The letter stated Attock Refinery would only be able provide a meagre 2,000 metric tons of jet fuel to PSO, whereas Parco would be able to supply around 16,000 MT against PSO’s total demand of 37,000 for December 2017. These supplies amount to less than 50pc of the fuel requirement of PSO, read the letter.
PSO warned up-country airports like Sialkot, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad and Peshawar could face supply disruptions due to shortage of jet fuel and dry-out is expected imminently at Lahore airport by December 8/9, 2017, followed by Islamabad airport on December 11/12, 2017.
The state-owned oil giant urged the authorities to instruct PARCO to provide it 34,000 MT and influence Attock Refinery for supply of 3,000 MT of jet fuel during December to avoid shortage. PSO said if refineries were unable to meet its demand of jet fuel, it should be provided a clear picture so alternate arrangement of jet fuel could be made via imports.
The government waking up to the emerging situation directed orders to refineries and marketing companies at a product review meeting to guarantee provision of supplies they committed in November.
