Filling stations to run dry in next 48 hours

Oil tankers association calls nationwide strike against an increase in toll tax, diesel price

The owners of oil tankers on Thursday called for a strike to cut off supplies across the country that will create an acute shortage of fuel in the next 48 hours.

Shams Shahwani, the senior vice president of the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA), said filling stations would soon run dry.

"Filling stations usually store petrol and other products for two or three days. They have already started reporting a shortage of fuel since morning," he told The Express Tribune.

Abdul Sami Khan, the president of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association, said several filling stations in Karachi's Clifton, Nazimabad and Korangi areas had already run dry.

Shahwani said four oil marketing companies (OMCs) had stopped availing the services of around 6,000 oil tankers considering them obsolete and were scheduled to retire a thousand more on July 20.

"We cannot afford this in these testing times amid the [coronavirus] pandemic," he added.

The APOTOA official demanded that the government should undo the latest increase in the price of diesel.

On June 26, diesel price was jacked up to Rs101.46 per litre with an increase of Rs21.31 per litre.

"The surge in the price of diesel has increased the cost of transportation," Shahwani said.

The association’s senior vice president also demanded a reduction of toll tax from Rs1,600 to Rs1,300.

“The elite culture in the vehicle queue system should end and vehicles belonging to MPAs and senators should wait for their turn.”

The APOTOA official also said every department including the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) should be privatised.

"We will not end the wheel-jam strike until Prime Minister Imran Khan meets with us or intervenes in the matter.”

In a statement, Oil Tankers and Contractors Association President Abdullah Afridi announced that they were going on an indefinite period starting from Thursday against the government’s decision to increase taxes at a time when the business was in a slump.

“The [oil tanker] sector has been hard at work supplying oil across the country throughout the coronavirus pandemic without taking time off.”

Filling stations had also run dry across the country last month after the government slashed the prices of petroleum products. Prime Minister Imran Khan had ordered action against OMCs including cancellation of their licences and the arrest of their officials after an inquiry body found them involved in deliberately creating a petrol shortage in the country by hoarding the fuel.