November 20, 2008	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 21, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Nov 19: The government has decided to allow import of 25,000 metric tons of petrol and 50,000 metric tons of high-speed diesel to avert a shortfall. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan Arab Refinery (Parco) held on Monday under Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Sources told Dawn that the prime minister first asked a Parco official whether it could import crude oil and refine it, instead of importing refined products. The refinery has a capacity to process about 100,000 barrels of crude a day.

But the Parco official, sources said, had informed the prime minister that an acute shortage of petrol and diesel was likely in the first week of January. He said that it took about “four to five weeks” to import crude and a few more weeks to refine and distribute it. Therefore, meeting the deadline would be difficult.

The time factor, the Parco official said, was a big hurdle. And therefore, the government should import refined products instead of crude.

Parco and PSO officials also said that the import cycle of crude and petroleum products should not be disturbed to keep the supplies intact.

Sources told Dawn that the prime minister assured Parco that the company’s dues would be cleared and more money would be provided to the PSO for importing diesel and petrol.

Oil marketing companies are yet to receive about Rs192 billion in arrears, while they owe the same amount to refineries and a downward revision of Pakistan’s credit rating has affected their ability to arrange funds for petroleum products.

The government had stopped the import of oil more than five weeks ago to stop capital flight.

Another factor delaying the resumption of oil import was economic uncertainty.