While on the one hand, the Covid-19-fuelled lockdown has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for oil traders who have pocketed billions of rupees, farmers have been hit hard.
A shortage of high-speed diesel has forced the farmers to run from pillar to post to get fuel supply for crop harvesting as its unavailability may lead to delay in harvesting. They say retail outlets are selling petrol but they are not offering diesel.
Earlier, the Petroleum Division had imposed a ban on the import of crude oil, petrol, and high-speed diesel from
A couple of days ago,
Oil industry officials say if the government further relaxes the lockdown after
However, the Petroleum Division in an earlier statement said there was ample stock of petrol and diesel in the market. There were 285,000 tons of petrol and 350,000 tons of diesel, which were sufficient to meet the domestic requirement for the next 15 days, it said.
Moreover, two ships of PSO each with petrol and diesel had also berthed at Karachi Port, the division said. However, farmers have been left at the mercy of oil mafia as, according to PSO, some of the OMCs have imported and hoarded the petroleum products.
Industry sources say domestic refineries are operational and have ample stocks. According to available data,
Industry officials say PSO is lifting maximum supplies from refineries. There was some demand from the smaller OMCs but the major issue had been created by those OMCs which imported petroleum products in April but did not supply them to the country's north.
Some OMCs influenced policymakers and imported products but they did not market them. They made hefty profits on account of petroleum development levy. Last month, PSO scrapped a tender for petrol supply at cheaper rates and accepted another tender at higher rates.
PSO's tender, for delivery in the second half of May, was opened on
Another tender for the first half of June was floated on
When contacted, a PSO spokesperson said the delivery period of cargoes for the two tenders was entirely different ie for the first tender, PSO was liable to lift the cargoes within the second fortnight of May while for the second tender PSO had the liberty to lift the cargoes anywhere from
'Given the uncertainty in demand pattern due to the lockdown situation, PSO did not require cargo in the second half of May, as established during a tender review as PSO already had three cargoes arriving in May, which were deferred from April to May on the instructions of the
It is pertinent to mention here that PSO even canceled the tender for the first fortnight of
'PSO awards cargoes as per demand requirement and not merely based on premiums, as, in case of delay in the berthing of vessels, PSO has to bear demurrages as well.'
Moreover, according to the spokesperson, PSO has instructions from the
Hence, the spokesperson said, comparing the two tenders of entirely different delivery periods did not have any rationale.
© Pakistan Press International, source