By Uzma Zafar
KARACHI: The scarcity of petrol crisis across the country has turned severe on Friday. Due to the crisis citizens are facing immense difficulties in all large and small cities around the country.
Most of the petrol pumps are closed in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta while long queues can be witnessed on those pumps which are open. The people are facing difficulties as arbitrary prices are being charged in several cities.
On the other hand, the petroleum division has instructed a strict action against oil the dealers and companies responsible for the crisis.
A shortage of petrol and diesel at most fuel stations across the country reportedly due to limited supply of petroleum products have added
to the miseries of people.
Sameer Najmul Hassan, the Chairman of All Pakistan Petroleum Retailers Association (APPRA), in a statement said oil companies will likely run out of their oil stocks in the next three days. They have been left with the stock hardly enough to last out more than three days, he added.
He said new quota of petroleum products is not being purchased due to a consistent decrease in the oil companies’ quota. No company other than the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is purchasing oil at present, the APPRA chairman said.
“The situation seems to be going from bad to worse until Sunday,” he warned. He said 15 oil marketing companies in total, including the PSO, purchase oil in the country.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Power (petroleum division) on Friday struck down insinuations of fuel shortages saying that petrol and high speed diesel was available in surplus amount, newsmen reported.
The spokesman said that at least 272,500 million metric tonnes of petrol was currently available in the country while 376,00 million metric tonnes of high speed diesel was also available.
