Petrol crunch to ease today

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Ministry claims no shortage of petroleum products in country

* Official says PARCO refinery will resume full production today

By Zeeshan Javaid

ISLAMABAD: There is no shortage of petrol or petroleum products in the country, however the current crunch of petrol will ease today (Monday) with the availability of petrol and other petroleum products, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Director General (Oil) Sabir Hussain told Daily Times that the ministry had taken serious notice on Sunday of the ongoing crunch of petroleum in the country, and ensured that the situation will improve from today (Monday).

He said that the situation will further improve as the Pak Arab Refinery (PARCO) had resumed operations already, and full production will be available to all citizens by Sunday evening and Monday morning, while the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had also been directed to carry out surprise visits to petrol pumps to ensure the continuous supply of petrol.

Hussain added that due to the closure of roads, the supply chain of petroleum products from Karachi to other parts of the country had also been disrupted, however sufficient stocks of about 90,000 tonnes of petrol had been available, which was more than enough to cater for the public for at least 18 days.

In this context, the Ministry of Petroleum in consultation with the oil marketing companies is making arrangements to expedite the supplies from Karachi refineries and imports of Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

The DG said that PSO had resumed furnace oil supply to HUBCO and KAPCO after the Finance Ministry released Rs 12 billion to ease its financial affliction, while a commitment of another Rs 24 billion would be released by next week.

With reference to the shortage of petrol in Punjab especially in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan, he said that due to the recent floods in the country, PARCO, which is meeting 20 to 25 percent of the country’s demand, had been closed down with effect from August 7, 2010, however now PARCO had started its production of petroleum products and a shipment of 2,000 tonnes of production was scheduled to reach on Sunday.