Rumours drain out petrol in Karachi too

PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: Thousands of panicked people holding containers, buckets and bottles flooded fuel pumps in Karachi on Monday, creating a self-fulfilling prophesy of a petrol shortage, which up till now had managed to skirt the country’s financial capital.

Fuelled by intense, at times irresponsible, news coverage of the crisis in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, rumours spread like wildfire in the port city, despite there being no shortages through the weekend.

“This is a virus that will now take couple of days and a lot of government effort to go away,” said Shabbir Suleman, the chairman of the CNG-Petroleum Dealers Association, an industry group of fuel stations in Karachi. “No one had foreseen this happening in Karachi. But reports about the petrol shortage in other parts of the country caused panic among people here and many of our pumps dried up within hours.”

The rumours appeared to feed upon themselves in creating the perception of a shortage, which in turn created an actual shortage at many petrol pumps across the country’s largest city. “An average petrol pump has the capacity to store between 25,000-30,000 litres, which is sufficient for two to three days. Now imagine what would happen if 15,000 litres is sold within a few hours. Obviously, some pumps would run dry,” explained Suleman.

Oil companies tried to calm the residents of the city. Ilyas Fazil, CEO of the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) reminded consumers that “there is a sufficient stock of fuel available in the city.”

Despite the fact that compressed natural gas (CNG) is available as an alternative fuel in Karachi – unlike in Punjab and K-P – many consumers have switched back to petrol, since the cost advantage of running vehicles on CNG appears to have dissipated following a 27% cut in oil prices over the past six months. “While this has pushed up demand for petrol, there are indications prices will be cut further. This will only add to petrol’s demand,” said Suleman. Meanwhile, the agony of commuters in Punjab and K-P continued for a sixth day on Monday as petrol stations in Peshawar and Lahore continued to ration petrol sales among consumers.

In Lahore, the situation was particularly bad as people queued up in lines that at times ran for hundreds of yards along the streets close to petrol stations. The crisis in Lahore appears to be exacerbated by people trying to buy as much fuel as they can, using jerry cans and bottles and having family members, including children, line up to buy petrol.

The city government has dedicated 11 fuel stations to supply ambulances run by the government as well as private charities. The Lahore government is also trying to crack down on reported price gouging by some petrol station owners looking to take advantage of the situation.

In Peshawar, matters appeared to be a little better. Most petrol pumps remain open, even though they are rationing fuel at a rate of Rs200 worth of fuel per car and Rs100 per motorcycle.

Khalid Khan, the general secretary of Sarhad Petroleum Cartage and Dealers Association, told The Express Tribune that the state-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO) had supplied enough fuel to the city on Monday to overcome the crisis. He added that the rationing policies appeared to be a spontaneous decision by petrol station owners, not by the industry association or the oil marketing companies.

Khan said the crisis will be over by Tuesday (today) as more oil tankers are on their way to Peshawar but are stuck at Kotal area in Darra Adam Khel due to a road blockade.

However, representatives of the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA) said only four oil tankers carrying 160,000 litres entered the province on Monday which is not enough to meet its needs. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.

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