OGRA Warned of Petrol Shortage in Coming Days

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has been warned of a possible petrol shortage in Pakistan by the oil industry in the coming days due to inadequate import and limited local availability of petroleum products, including petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD).

In a letter written by the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), the OGRA was warned about a possible petrol shortage in the country due to inadequate imports and limited local availability of the said commodities.

The OCAC told OGRA that petrol and HSD imports were finalized after extensive deliberation and allowed to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in line with their demand in product availability review of products for the month of November 2022.

However, the review highlighted a deficit of 210,000 MT of high-speed diesel (HSD) and 147,000 MT of petrol and it was conveyed in the meeting that HSD imports in November might be challenging owing to limited availability in the international market and very high premiums.

Furthermore, the demand for petroleum products had been higher than the anticipated sales figures for October 2022, which exacerbate the shortage as OMCs obtained their shipments in the last week of the previous month, so the fuel was not ready for use during the intended month.

Moreover, the OMCs that were allowed imports in the previous month for use in the following month had already consumed the parcels in advance.

Meanwhile, the import of petrol in proportion to anticipated sales figures and stock cover has also not been booked and OCAC has stated that import plan should have been finalized by the importers but there is currently a deficit in the import plan despite the issue being raised in last week’s meeting with industry representives.

“Keeping in view the ongoing sales trend and the number of days cover currently being maintained by the OMCs, we foresee product availability challenges in various pockets of the country in days to come, due to inadequate imports and limited local avails,” the OMC warned of a petrol shortage in Pakistan.

It requested the regulator to issue necessary directives to the importing OMCs for strict adherence to import plans to avoid a fuel shortage in the country.

Read more: Latest Petrol Prices in Pakistan – 1 November 2022.

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