Petrol Shortage in Pakistan, Pumps Rationing Fuel

In a concerning turn of events after the recent hike in the price of US Dollar, a petrol shortage is being reported in Pakistan and several stations / petrol pumps have already started rationing of fuel for cars and motorcycles or completely stopped sales.

There is a petrol shortage being reported in every major city of Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad by people on social media, which made us investigate the matter ourselves by visiting different fueling stations in these cities.

Several petrol pumps in Lahore are closed citing petrol shortage as the main reason, while those still open are rationing petrol for cars and motorcycles. Furthermore, a similar situation was found in Islamabad, where petrol is being rationed at several stations and others remain closed.

According to the details, petrol pumps are only allowing cars to fill up Rs. 2,000 worth of petrol, while motorcycles are being given Rs. 300 worth of fuel. However, it is pertinent to mention that no restriction is present on purchase of High Octane Fuel, High-Speed Diesel (HSD) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

While, we were not able to visit petrol pumps in Karachi ourselves, there are several reports by social media users that petrol pumps are closed across the city and those open are packed with long queues of people waiting to get petrol for their vehicles.

OGRA Denies Shortage

Earlier this week, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) denied any sort of petrol shortage in Pakistan. However, it may be an artificial shortage being created by some petrol pumps to make more profit and exploit their customers.

OGRA strongly rebut the speculations on Petrol/diesel shortages.
The country has sufficient petrol and Diesel stocks for meeting demand for 18 and 37 days respectively.
Furthermore, ships carrying 101,000MT petrol is at berth/outer anchorage. 1/1
Spokesman OGRA
— Imran Ghaznavi (@ighaznavi) January 24, 2023

It is pertinent to mention that economic condition has severely deteriorated in the country after the sudden fall of Pakistan Rupee (PKR) against the US Dollar (USD) on 26^th and 27^th January as the local currency reached an all time low of Rs. 262.60 at the closing of the interbank market.

In related news, the Petrol Prices in Pakistan are expected to rise by Rs. 83.5 per litre as per the recommendation put forward by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and some sources claim that petroleum products may reach over Rs. 300 per litre during the next fortnight.

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