Oil supply to Attock refinery restored after transport disruption

The movement of crude oil and petroleum products to and from Attock Refinery Limited resumed late Wednesday night after authorities stepped in to ease disruptions, the refinery’s management said. The restoration was facilitated through the intervention of Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik enabling road transport to return to normal.

A day earlier, in a mandatory regulatory filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the company said its main crude distillation unit has been shut down after disruptions in oil supply and product dispatch caused by traffic restrictions in the federal capital.

The unit, with a capacity of around 32,400 barrels per stream day, was taken offline as the refinery could not sustain operations amid mounting logistical constraints.

Read More: Capital road blockades cripple refinery logistics

The Petroleum Division, along with other relevant institutions, played a key role in restoring road transport that had been suspended due to security arrangements for foreign delegations attending the Islamabad talks. The curbs had led to a halt in oil tanker movement to and from the refinery, disrupting both crude supply and product dispatch.

The disruption resulted in a sharp decline in crude receipts while preventing the evacuation of refined products, leading to a build-up of motor spirit and high-speed diesel stocks. The sustained logistical constraints ultimately forced the shutdown of operations.

The main processing unit of the refinery had impacted fuel supplies to Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. They further noted that the refinery also provides furnace oil to power plants, amplifying the impact of the disruption. With the restoration of supply routes, the refinery’s operations would fully normalise in the coming hours.