Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says shortage is due to unprecedented increase in petroleum usage in January as compared to December
Finance Secretary Dr Waqar says POL prices would be reduced at the end of January
ISLAMABAD: The government is unable to announce a deadline to bring an end to the shortage of petrol in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Two ministers and the finance secretary adopted different viewpoints on the issue.
Motorists in Punjab faced difficulty due to a petrol shortage in several cities. Long queues of vehicles were seen at petrol stations in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Jhelum on the fourth consecutive day (Friday).
The shortage is being attributed to the decrease in petroleum prices and unavailability of CNG for four months in the province. Owners of petrol station said that there was a delay in supply of fuel from companies.
Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the National Assembly that the shortage was due to unprecedented increase in petroleum usage in January as compared to December.
“Due to reduced prices of petroleum products, people instead of standing in long queues and keeping on hours’ long waiting for CNG which was almost unavailable, commuters tend to go for petrol,” the minister said, adding that this tendency had resulted in 25 percent increase in petrol consumption in January.
He observed that prevailing shortage of petrol would end in almost next five to seven days.
However, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that people preferred petrol on CNG due to reduced prices of POL products. However, he gave January 26 deadline for the end to crisis.
On the other side, speaking at a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood said that prices of petroleum products had further lowered in the international market, therefore the prices would be reduced in Pakistan at the end of current month.
“The government is trying to provide relief to people regarding cuts in petroleum prices in the international market as well as to overcome the fuel shortage,” he said, adding that 50,000 tonnes of petrol would arrive on Saturday (today), thus the shortage of petrol would be overcome in the next few days.
He added that Rs 17 billion had been released to the Pakistan State Oil and five letters of credit have also been opened to import oil.
