KARACHI: Amid reports of further decline in petrol prices, the oil industry is trying to maximise supply in the coming week to avoid a repeat of recent fuel crisis.

“We are also making efforts to ensure and maintain improved supply of petrol in the first week of February based on market situation,” Ilyas Fazil, the CEO of Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), told Dawn on Saturday.

For the last four to five days, more than 15,000 tonnes of petrol — 4,500 tonnes from local refineries and the rest from imported stocks — are being supplied daily in the country, he said.

The sale of petrol increased to 2.1 million tonnes in July-December 2014 compared to 1.9m tonnes in the same period of 2013.

When asked about the recent petrol crisis despite higher imports in July-Dec, including record import in November 2014, he said one reason was the slowdown in lifting of petrol by buyers in the last week of December in anticipation of more price cut from Jan 1.

People thronged petrol pumps after the drop in price, pushing the average per day sale of petrol to 28,300 tonnes per day in the first three days of this month compared to December’s 12,300 tonnes.

On Jan 1, petrol sale stood at 40,000 tonnes, followed by 21,000 tonnes on Jan 2 and 22,000 tonnes on Jan 3, he added.

The shutdown of Pak-Arab Refinery (PARCO) from Jan 6 for three to five days and PSO-PNSC tanker tussle also compounded the situation.

Total petrol imports in July-Dec 2014 rose to 1.3m tonnes compared to 1.06m tonnes a year earlier. As for the Oct-Dec quarter, the imports were 649,643 tonnes compared to 574,850 tonnes in the same period of 2013.

Pakistan imported a record 283,233 tonnes in November 2014, surpassing the previous highest monthly figure of 273,681 tonnes recorded in September 2014.

These figures have now been posted on the OCAC’s website, which had not been updated since October. “This website is being updated, any inconvenience caused is regretted please,” reads a message published on the site’s home page.

Monthly updates, including industry sales, refinery production, import and export statistics, and province-wise consumption report for energy products, are part of the website.

He said that daily reports regarding supplies of the country’s oil marketing companies (OMCs), regional supplies and daily stock position are generated by the OCAC and are sent to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to facilitate planning.

“In this hour of crisis, the OCAC and its member companies (refineries and OMCs) have been concentrating on assisting the concerned authorities and industry members,” Fazil said.

He said petrol sales may remain brisk in the coming month on the back of higher demand triggered by declining prices. While a number of vehicles owners are driving their vehicles on petrol, CNG shutdown in winter, especially in Punjab, is also shifting people towards petrol.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), import of power-generating machines swelled by 47.6 per cent to $658m in July-Dec 2014 compared to $446m in the same period of 2013.

Total imports of generators in 2013-14 stood at $1.07 billion compared to $958m in 2012-13. Sales of cars and two- and three-wheelers are also rising.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2015

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