ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent another top official home after an inquiry committee held Ogra and PSO responsible for the petrol crisis.
Earlier, the prime minster suspended Petroleum Secretary Abid Saeed, Additional Petroleum Secretary Naeem Malik, DG Oil CM Azam and PSO’s acting Managing Director Amjad Janjua. He fired PSO’s deputy managing director finance Sohail Bhatti while chairing a meeting.
During the meeting, a two-member inquiry committee presented its initial findings, according to an official handout. It was the second meeting the premier chaired in as many days to find out how an acute petrol shortage snowballed into a crisis and who was responsible for that. The meeting was told that 19,300 metric tons of petrol was supplied across the country on Tuesday against the average daily demand of 12,000 metric tons. The prime minister asked the petroleum ministry for hourly updates on the fuel supply situation in the country.
The authority is responsible to ensure that oil companies have a 20-day stock. The authority, however, failed to enforce regulations on the oil companies. Sources said private companies were reluctant to follow inventory due to a rapid fall in global fuel prices, while PSO’s concerned officials lied about the availability of fuel in the country due to many reasons.
