Six months on: Petrol crisis re-emerges in Punjab

Shortage of fuel grows acute in several towns.

LAHORE: As petrol supplies evaporated across several towns of Punjab on Sunday, motorists and passengers found themselves in a hauntingly familiar situation. Most of them shuddered at the memory of the fuel crisis which took place six months earlier and crippled routine life throughout the province.

For the past 72 hours, motorists and passengers have been facing immense problems due to the scarcity of petrol, forcing them to wait for hours in long queues at fuel stations.



“The shortage actually started on May 29 but it has worsened in the past three days,” claimed Khawaja Atif, general secretary of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA).  The industry association, he added, had started receiving complaints from dealers in several cities across Punjab, including Mianwali, Rahim Yar Khan, Sargodha, Khanewal and Toba Tek Singh, blaming Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) for not sending regular supplies.

Atif alleged the OMCs, including Pakistan State Oil, were rationing petroleum and not releasing supplies according to the demand. “Ogra [Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority] is responsible for the shortage as it gave away licences to at least 25 new OMCs last year,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2015.