–OCAC says 50pc growth in sales post-corona lockdown had caused depletion of stocks
–Requests consumers not to resort to ‘excessive buying’
KARACHI: On behalf of the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries operating in Pakistan, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) has informed that the current stocks of petrol (motor gasoline) are continuously being replenished by OMCs from supplies being made available through local refineries and regular arrival of vessels carrying imported petrol at the two ports: Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Fauji Oil Terminal Company (FOTCO) at Port Qasim Authority (PQA).
In a statement issued on Monday, OCAC informed, “For the month of June, a total of around 850,000 metric tonnes (MT) of petrol is being supplied from local refineries and imports to the distribution & retail network of the country. The current sales of petrol in the country are exceptionally high (50pc growth) due to the easing of Covid-19 lockdown in the past few weeks, causing depletion of stocks and low price of the product.”
The council further stated that the average sales of petrol for the period July 2019 to May 2020 were around 600,000MT per month, which translates to sales of around 20,000MT per day. However, for the reasons mentioned above, a high surge of sales and consumption of 30,000MT per day had been experienced in the first six days of June 2020.
“This sudden increase of 50pc in consumption is being complemented by the industry through additional imports in the months of June and July while there are few pockets of constrained supplies in some parts of the country. However, the Petroleum Division, Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), local refineries & oil marketing companies are working round the clock to mitigate the situation.”
The council said that in view of an adequate quantity of petrol being arranged through the petroleum products supply-chain, the consumers are requested to fill up their vehicles as per their normal needs and do not resort to excessive buying.
