Minister oblivious to motorists' ordeal amid fuel shortage
Business
OGRA writes to Punjab chief secretary to take immediate action against hoarders
LAHORE (Web Desk) - The fuel supplies to a good number of petrol pumps in many cities of Punjab remained suspended on Wednesday, leaving the motorists in the lurch.
Petroleum dealers complained about limited fuel supplies but State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik dismissed reports that there was a shortage of fuel in the country.
Long queues of motorists were seen in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Shakargarh, Khushab, Mandi Bahauddin, Gojra and other cities. The state minister said he held a meeting with representatives of all the oil marketing companies, adding the country had petrol stocks for over 20 days and diesel for over 25 days. He urged the fuel station owners not to create panic among the people and ruled out the possibility of an immediate increase in petrol prices.
“There is no chance of a increase in petrol prices before Feb 15,” Mr Malik clarified.
The shortage of petroleum products comes on the heels of an abnormal increase of Rs35 per litre in petrol and diesel prices a few days ago. The country faced the same situation earlier this month before the price hike.
On Jan 29, the coalition government jacked up the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs35 per litre following the historic devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar.
Taking note of the drying supply of petrol in various cities of Punjab, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) wrote a letter to Punjab chief secretary (CS) Zahid Akhtar Zaman to take immediate action against those illegally hoarding petrol and diesel stocks.
Ogra’s Senior Executive Director - Enforcement Sohail Ahmed Tariq also identified places that could be the source of storing petrol for inventory gains. The letter asked the CS to take action to address the public’s inconvenience.
The cities that are worse hit by the “petrol shortage” include Lahore, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala. 70 out of 450 pumps are dry in Lahore with areas including Shahdara, Wagah, Litton Road, and Jain Mandir witnessing the closure of pumps. On the other hand, 70pc of the pumps are closed in Gujranwala as they are not getting supplies from oil marketing companies.
