South Asian Business news and information

Several big cities of Pakistan are now facing petroleum shortage. Many petrol pumps in Karachi, Sindh and North West Frontier Province are shut down as they are not getting any supply from the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) they are affiliated with. The problem has become worse for people in those areas where the number of petrol pumps is limited. The dealers are saying that the OMCs have stopped supplying petrol from last week which has resulted into petrol shortage. However, the dealers did not provide any details of the reason behind the sudden stoppage in supply.

Daily Times reports:   

A couple of weeks earlier, President Petroleum Dealers Association Abdul Sami Khan had already warned the possible shortage at several petrol pumps as according to him, the OMCs were not providing them enhanced products' when the demand was high.

Some dealers also warned that their oil stocks have been diminished and left for a couple of days. The supply should be resumed by the OMCs because the demand of diesel and petrol has surged on the petrol pumps on the back of shutting of other outlets and enhanced usage in power generators.

Normally, petrol pumps have a storage capacity of 20 to 25 days in the oil tanks.

The shortage of petroleum will continue in near future because Pakistan State Oil (PSO) said that it has been facing diesel supply constraints from refineries. Abid Syed Ibrahim, spokeman of Shell Pakistan Limited said that the OMCs have stopped supplying because many dealers have not cleared their advance payments.

Already, the rising price of petroleum has become a major crisis all over the world. Without petroleum, the transportation will come to a halt, which means people will not be able to move from one place to another. I hope and pray that the OMCs and dealers work out this problem as soon as possible.

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