ISLAMABAD: Following toxic gas leakage in Keamari which led to the death of almost 14 persons, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have temporarily suspended their onsite operations.
Sources said that OMCs, including state-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO) have closed their operations due to health and safety reasons. They said that suspension of operations by OMCs might cause fuel shortage and a panic-like situation in fuel buying in the country, especially in Karachi, in the near future. They said that the decision of closing operations by OMCs was taken after two employees of a contractor fell ill on Tuesday and felt difficulty in breathing, and were subsequently shifted to a private hospital for treatment.
OMCs, including SPL, Total Parco, Al-Noor, Byco, Zyco with HASCO and PSO have established their oil terminals and storages in the Keamari area, and their total oil storage capacity is around 0.5 million metric tonnes.
When contacted, Shell Pakistan spokesperson said that the company stopped its operation on Tuesday around 2PM as a precautionary measure for the safety of staff. “We are following the news closely and hope to resume normal operations by tomorrow. This will not impact our customers,” the spokesperson said.
PSO spokesperson said that the company has temporarily closed its storage terminals in Keamari due to the same reasons. “The operations on this location will resume as soon as the area is deemed safe for the company’s staff and contractors to operate,” the spokesperson said.
“There will be as such no impact of this temporary closure on supply of POL products within Karachi, and in upcountry locations. PSO has sufficient stock available, with backup supply arrangements already in place to ensure an uninterrupted supply of the POL products,” the spokesperson added.
Sources said that PSO stopped its operation when the daily load was completed. They said that PSO has started oil supply to Karachi and other parts of the country from its Zulfiqarabad storage which is comparatively big compared with Keamri storage. They added that OMCs except PSO might face difficulty in oil supply if the situation persists for more few days.
