Petroleum imports boost Pakistan’s reserves
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ISLAMABAD: Amid global shortages, three vessels carrying petrol are arriving at Port Qasim, while one has already discharged diesel to replenish the country’s reserves.
These imports were made by Attock Petroleum, Wafi Petroleum, Hascol and GO Pakistan Ltd.
The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) announced on Tuesday that the MT Torm Damini, which arrived on March 8, had offloaded 37,000 tonnes of diesel.
Another tanker, MT Nave Atropos, carrying 50,000 tonnes of petrol, has already arrived at the outer anchorage and is scheduled to berth on Wednesday.
Three vessels carrying petrol, one with diesel arrive at Port Qasim
The discharge of cargo is expected to take approximately 30 hours. After Nave Atropos, another tanker, MT Spruce2, carrying 55,000 tonnes of petrol, is expected to berth on Thursday.
The fourth ship, MT Sea Clipper, carrying 34,000 tonnes of petrol, is the final vessel in the schedule, with berthing allocated for either the evening of March 13 or the morning of March 14.
Another vessel carrying petrol for the state-owned oil marketing company, PSO, is expected to arrive after March 16.
The other energy-related activity at Port Qasim involves the arrival of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
While the vessel ‘MD23’ has discharged 3,500 tonnes of LPG, two other ships were offloading their cargoes at the terminals.
The ‘Navigator Atlantic’ was currently discharging 12,000 tonnes of LPG, brought from Oman, at Engro Vopak Terminal Ltd (EVTL).
And the ‘Navigator Aries’ was discharging 11,000 tonnes of LPG mix from Iraq at Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) LPG terminal.
The fourth gas ship ‘Ullswater’ is outside the port area waiting with 3,700 tonnes of LPG mix from Iraq to discharge its cargo at the SSGC LPG terminal.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the petroleum ministry told Dawn that the country had stocks sufficient for 25 days of both petrol and diesel.
While diesel consumption started declining in the last week of Ramazan to nearly half during Eid days, petrol consumption surged back during Eid days.
“The import of petrol and diesel will ensure that the country does not go dry,” the official said, adding that people have started to conserve usage after the price increase, which is also helping maintain stock levels.
Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026
