OGRA rejects reports of Petrol shortage

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) refuted allegations of a scarcity of petrol and diesel on Tuesday, claiming that the nation had adequate supplies.

Spokesperson Imran Ghaznavi said, “Ogra strongly rebuts the speculations on petrol/diesel shortages.”

According to him, there are enough stockpiles on hand to meet the demand for gasoline for the next 18 days and diesel for the next 37 days.

He further added that ships carrying 101,000 metric tons of gasoline are at berth/outer anchorage. The demand for petroleum products is being met in full by the neighbourhood refineries.

The announcement comes a day after fuel stations claimed that oil marketing organizations had reduced petroleum product supplies due to protracted delays in the issue of letters of credit (LCs) by private banks for imports. Long lines and frantic gas purchases resulted as a result in numerous cities across the nation.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Finance were urgently contacted earlier this month by the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy to arrange the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs) for the shipment of fuel after the entire sector, including oil marketing companies and refineries, raised concerns about impending supply disruption.

Secretary Information of the Petroleum Dealers Association Atif Ahmad stated, “The smaller oil marketing companies had stopped importing crude oil as the paucity of dollars delayed opening of letters of credit and slowly squeezed the process completely.”