Amid oil shortage reports, petroleum minister warns hoarders of stringent action

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Regarding the import of oil from Russia, Malik said these matters will be settled by the end of March, and it is hoped that the supply of Russian oil to the country will start in April 2023.

Malik also said that he will submit a report to the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif within the next two days regarding the recent power breakdown.

It is relevant to note that reports of the shortage of petroleum products in various cities of the Punjab have been circulating in the media since the last few days and petrol pumps have curtailed oil supply to the customers.

On Wednesday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Au- thority (OGRA), in a letter written to the Punjab chief secretary, pointed out 19 illegal storage facilities.

According to OGRA Spokesman Imran Ghaznavi, these storages are illegal which might be in use to dump/store petroleum products for inventory gains and contribute to the existing shortage in different cities of Punjab. He said OGRA had directed the chief secretary to take strict action against the illegal hoarders, sharing a list of illegal petrol/diesel storages, identified through market intelligence.

“It is aimed at avoiding deliberate shortage [of the petroleum products] in the province,” said Ghaznavi.

He added that the authority had also dispatched its enforcement teams to check the identified storages and ensure a smooth supply of petroleum products across the province.

It is pertinent to mention here that citizens are experiencing a repeat of the January 2015, June 2020 and June 2022 petroleum shortage situation and that the absence of concerned authorities is conspicuous. It appears that regulators, the petroleum division and other market players have not learnt any lesson from past crises.

All concerned are shifting the blame onto each other as is the norm, and no one seems ready to take responsibility to come up with a plan to avoid a repeat oil crisis in the country. The need of the hour is to take swift and constructive action so that people need not suffer again in the days ahead.