June 21, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1429

KARACHI, June 19: Pakistani diesel, which is priced at Rs50.14 a litre, is being smuggled out to Afghanistan, and it is reportedly being sold at Rs75 a litre in the neighboring country.

Oil industry sources said that the problem of diesel shortage was more alarming in Balochistan and the NWFP rather than in Punjab and Sindh as it is smuggled out to Afghanistan from the earlier two provinces.

However, people in the oil marketing companies and refineries could not give an exact quantity of diesel being smuggling out to Afghanistan.

An official, who asked not to be named, said that the OMCs had taken up the matter with the NWFP government so that illegal shipment to Afghanistan could be curbed. The NWFP government assured the OMCs that it would look into the matter.

Pakistan State Oil managing director M Abdul Aleem had also raised the issue in a letter to the petroleum ministry recently. The PSO was of the view that key factor contributing to the recent growth in diesel demand in the country was the high level of subsidy of Rs37.07 per litre.