Commuters inconvenienced by petrol shortage in city

Some petrol pumps had failed to replenish stocks in time, anticipating a fall in prices

LAHORE: Commuters were left in the lurch on Tuesday as the city witnessed a shortage of petrol and diesel following a federal government notification reducing petroleum prices by Rs3 per litre.

Ahmad Raza, a motorcyclist in Township, told The Express Tribune that he was turned down by three petrol stations along a five kilometre stretch he walked with his motorcycle after it ran out of fuel.

Managers of some petrol stations that remained closed on Monday told The Express Tribune that they had anticipated a fall in petroleum prices and not refilled their stock to avoid loss of revenue.

Long queues were witnessed in front of petrol stations where petrol and diesel were available.

The shortage was aggravated by the All Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association’s (APOTOA) decision to go on a strike against imposition of Rs30,000 general sales tax per tanker.

The Petroleum Dealers’ Association (PDA) dismissed the suggestion that the shortage was caused by petrol stations’ failure to replenish their stocks in time. PDA spokesperson Chaudhry Asif said the oil tankers’ association’s decision to go on a strike against the hike in general sales tax (GST) on petroleum products had caused the shortage.

Despite the strike, he said stocks at city’s petrol stations were enough to meet regulation demand.

However, media reports about expected shortage of petrol had led consumers to resort to panic buying, he said.

Asif said that daily average demand for petroleum products in the city was around 2.5 to 3 million litres.

Asked about the number of oil tankers that served the city on Tuesday morning, he said he was unaware of it.

In a statement released to the media, the City District Government (CDGL) denied that there was a shortage of petroleum products in the city.

DCO Capt (retd) Muhammad Usman said he was personally monitoring the situation.

He said that he had directed all price control magistrates and town administrators in the city to visit petrol stations in their areas and check their petrol and diesel inventories.

The DCO said that arrangements had been made for supply of 6.5 million litres of petrol and 3.4 million litres of diesel.

He said that 60 percent of the quantity had been supplied to pumps during the day. The rest would reach the city by midnight, he added.

A CDGL spokesman said eight of the 305 petrol stations inspected on Monday night were found out of stock. Of these, he said six were sealed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.