OMCs failing to keep 20-day stock to face penalties
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has decided to impose penalties and in some cases suspend licences of oil marketing companies (OMCs) over failure to maintain 20-day oil stocks and lift the required petroleum products from refineries.
The refineries will also face Ogra's action if they produce less-than-committed volumes for three consecutive months.
In a letter to the leading OMCs, Ogra said it has observed that numerous OMCs were not adhering to their commitments made during the product review meeting (PRM) regarding the lifting of stocks from local refineries.
"This failure to comply with the PRM directives is not only adversely impacting Ogra's oil supply chain management but is also damaging energy security and causing substantial revenue losses due to imports, which is tantamount to violation of the authority's directions," the regulator said, adding that after careful consideration and thorough deliberation, it made the decision that the OMCs which fail to lift local products vis-a-vis their commitment/ allocation in the PRM from refineries, fail to maintain 20 days of stock and the refineries which produce less-than-committed products for three consecutive months, would be placed before the authority for consideration of suspension of their marketing licence.
The regulatory authority, during its meeting held on May 29, 2025, reviewed serious contraventions related to stock maintenance and product procurement. After deliberation, it approved immediate imposition of penalties by the department concerned under Rule 69 of the Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending, Transportation, Storage and Marketing) Rules, 2016.
As per Rule 37, the OMCs that failed to maintain the mandatory 20-day stock cover in March 2025 shall be penalised based on the shortfall in the average stock days.
The OMCs which maintained less than five days of stocks will face a penalty of Rs10 million, for five or less than 10 days of stocks, the penalty will be Rs7.5 million, for 10 or less than 15 days of stocks, the penalty will be Rs5 million and for 15 or less than 20 days of stocks, the penalty will be Rs1 million.
The regulator will also slap penalties on the OMCs that lifted insufficient products from the refineries. It will impose a penalty on the refineries that failed to supply allocated products to the OMCs and even those refineries will face action that produced less than the quantity committed in the PRM during March 2025.
The OMCs which had more than 10% and less than 25% shortfall in lifting petroleum products from the refineries will face a Rs1 million penalty, in case of more than 25% and less than 50% shortfall, the penalty will be Rs5 million, in case of more than 50% shortfall, the penalty will be Rs7.5 million and those which had a shortfall of more than 75% in supplies from the refineries will face a Rs10 million penalty.
For April 2025, the regulator directed the department concerned to issue show-cause notices to the relevant OMCs and refineries by May 30, 2025. A response period of seven working days from the date of issuance was granted. The authority further advised that show-cause notices for May 2025 be issued by June 20, 2025.
Future enforcement measures
Ogra has decided that any OMC failing to lift local products in relation to its PRM commitment or maintain a 20-day stock cover, and any refinery under-producing against its commitment for three consecutive months, will be subject to the possible suspension of their marketing licence. The enforcement department has been instructed to issue this directive to all the entities concerned.
The authority has told the enforcement department (legal) to finalise the draft of "Petroleum Products Review Meeting Regulations, 2025" in consultation with the relevant departments. The draft will be submitted to the stakeholders for feedback, who will be allowed a period of seven working days to provide their comments.