ISLAMABAD: A large number of fuel stations in different parts of the country on Wednesday were found dry whereas Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has taken notice of this ‘artificial’ shortage and held a meeting with heads of leading Marketing Companies (OMCs) in this regard on Thursday.
According to a notice, OGRA had asked the managing directors, chairman and chief executive officers (CEOs) of Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO), Attock Petroleum Limited, Be Energy Ltd., Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd, Shell Pakistan Ltd, Puma Energy Private Ltd, Hascol Petroleum Limited, Total Parco Pakistan Ltd., and Gas and Oil Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. to attend the meeting to discuss imports for building up of mogas stocks, issues related to port constraints, and imbalance of stocks between south and upcountry.
Sources in the energy sector believed that the OMCs were behind the shortage of POL products witnessed at various filling stations except state-owned oil-giant PSO.
They said that the dry like situation of petrol pumps was because leading OMCs had allegedly reduced oil supplies to their respective petrol pumps mainly because of a likely price hike in oil prices from August.
They said that owing to an upward trend of oil prices in the international oil market and a likelihood of a price hike, these OMCs have allegedly resolved to limit oil supplies to their respective fuel stations to make hefty profits from available stocks at the start of the next month.
It is pertinent to mention here that the shortage in various parts of the country added to the problems for the masses as they were found moving from one filling station to another in search of oil.
