ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed the Pakistan State Oil to import petrol, diesel and other petroleum products through inviting bids from shipping lines for the next three months and barred Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) from providing its vessels for this purpose.
According to the prime minister’s directives, the PNSC would only provide vessels for furnace oil import. The PM, during a meeting, issued the directives to resolve a row between the PSO and PNSC, and to avoid another fuel shortage, which the country experienced in early January this year.
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According to an official of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the dearth of petrol early this year was the result of late arrival of PNSC vessels for loading and transporting the imported cargo.
Since January 2014, according to ministry officials, PNSC has delayed the provision of 77 vessels to PSO, which is a breach of timelines outlined in the Contract of Affreightment between the two state-owned companies and has caused losses to the national coffer.
