KARACHI, Aug 30: Panic has gripped consumers fearing suspension of petrol and diesel sales from Friday in the wake of an indefinite strike by the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA).

They say they could fill the fuel tanks of their vehicles even to full capacity but they may face problem on Saturday if the strike continues as threatened by the PPDA.

Consumers dependent on public transport will suffer immensely on Saturday as public transport operators say they can run their vehicles on Friday after filling their tanks on Thursday, but they may not be able to run them on Saturday if the pumps remain closed. They say they do not have storage facilities for diesel and usually ply vehicles on daily filling of diesel, mostly at night.

Owners of trucks and trailers, which carry essential commodities, may also feel the pinch on Saturday if the strike persists.

Many consumers were seen at the petrol stations filling their fuel tanks in advance on Thursday afternoon. Those motorbike owners who usually fill petrol worth Rs50 a day in their 70cc motorbikes, for instance, filled their tanks with petrol worth Rs100 or more. Because of the high rates of petrol, there were hardly few people who had managed to maintain a full capacity of their tanks.

The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) had announced an indefinite country-wide strike from Friday following a decision of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) of cutting their margin by 39 paisas per litre on Aug 25.

PPDA Chairman Abdul Sami Khan said consumers did not show any enthusiasm in buying petrol and diesel till afternoon but petrol stations started witnessing a rush after 9pm and there were long queues of motorbikes and cars at many pumps.

Anticipating a huge demand before the planned strike, petrol station owners had already filled up their storage tanks on Thursday. Petrol stations have a tank storage capacity of 15,000-25,000 tons for petrol and 25,000 tons for diesel. In this situation, they might have not suffered heavily as they sold Friday’s quota on Thursday.