According to Khan, 90% of transport vehicles are operating on CNG and it is available throughout the week which is why K-P was not affected much by the ongoing fuel shortage. PHOTO: PPI
After stopping Punjab in its tracks, the prevailing fuel shortage has started dousing Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), causing problems for commuters.
On Sunday, staffers at some of the petrol stations across the provincial capital began saving their stock to avoid a complete drying up of reserves. “We have instructions from the manager not to give any car owner fuel exceeding Rs500,” said an employee at a private company’s petrol pump located on GT Road.
He added workers have also been instructed by the management to only give motorcyclists fuel worth Rs100. “This is because we are short of supply and the whole country is facing the same problem. So, to avoid a complete exhaustion of stocks, we are running our station on this formula,” said the pump worker, refusing to share his name.
According to All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA), the apex body of fuel transporters across the country, 60% of fuel supply has halted because of a shortage of fuel provision from the state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
“Normally, around 700 oil tankers carrying fuel for the country leave from Karachi daily, but due to the shortage hardly 200-250 vehicles are leaving these days,” said Israr Shinwari, the spokesperson for APOTOA. Shinwari requested the government to take the matter seriously or the shortage could engulf the entire country, making it more difficult to overcome.
APOTOA’s K-P chapter President Haji Mohammad Ayub told The Express Tribune they received 450,000 litres of petrol on Sunday from Karachi but the province’s stock stored at its warehouses in Taru Jabba, Nowshera has finished and it needs a continuous supply.
“We are worried because the situation is going from bad to worse. We have already consumed our available stock,” said Ayub. He claimed some of the petrol pumps, particularly those owned by or linked with big oil marketing companies have received fuel stock but smaller fuel stations have run dry.
According to Ayub, K-P needs at least 1.2 million litres daily to meet its fuel demand, but due to the petrol crisis, supply has reduced twofold in the past few days.
Sarhad Petroleum Cartage and Dealers Association General Secretary for K-P Khalid Khan also admitted that the province has been gripped by the ongoing crisis. But he claimed the shortage will be over in a day or two as PSO supplied fuel on Sunday to control the situation.
Khan said the provincial capital’s daily consumption is around 750,000 litres and PSO, the main fuel supplier, provided 600,000 litres on Saturday and 320,000 litres on Sunday. “We hope that the crisis will be controlled in two days,” he said. “Due to the decrease in petrol prices, its demand in the province has increased; this added to the crisis as well.”
According to Khan, 90% of transport vehicles are operating on CNG and it is available throughout the week which is why K-P was not affected much by the ongoing fuel shortage.
Khan added petrol pumps in remote areas of K-P have not received fuel supply yet but the major petrol pumps in Peshawar have.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2015.
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