• Several filling stations run dry while others limit sale to 8–10 litres per vehicle amid regional tensions • No shortage of diesel reported

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Unannounced rationing of petrol has begun in the twin cities, like the rest of the country, amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

As tensions spread across the region in the wake of US and Israeli aggression against Iran, consumers also initiated panic buying on Thursday and Friday.

As a result, a large number of petrol stations, mainly belonging to Aramco and Attock Petroleum Ltd, went dry as their petrol stocks were sold out by Friday evening.

Meanwhile, stations belonging to Shell and PSO have started rationing petrol, selling between eight and 10 litres per vehicle.

The situation in Rawalpindi and Islamabad was similar to that witnessed in other areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As a result, by Friday evening, long queues of cars and motorcycles were seen at filling stations.

Muhammad Irfan, a manager of a petrol filling station, said people were in panic and most of them were buying additional quantities of petrol, possibly after some social media posts.

However, consumers have their own reasons.

Shiraz Hussain, a motorcyclist in Chaklala Scheme-III, said he wanted to get petrol as there were reports that prices would further increase on Friday night, so he decided to fill his tank.

Muhammad Bilal, a motorist on Murree Road, said he visited different filling stations to get fuel but there was a shortage.

He said he later went to a petrol filling station near Faizabad where vehicles had queued up on the main road and finally got fuel after waiting for one hour.

On the other hand, Pakistan Petroleum Pumps Owners Association spokesman Noman Butt said the supply from oil marketing companies had been slow.

He said the prime minister had issued a statement about taking action against petrol pump owners but had failed to take action against petroleum companies that slowed down the supply.

Meanwhile, there were reports that some filling stations were also hoarding petrol in anticipation of making inventory gains.

One consumer, Ahmed Zafar, could not find petrol for his motorcycle, but later, after the intervention of his father’s influence, the pump management gave him 10 litres.

“The new petrol price is set to be announced late Friday night. It seems that many filling stations were hoarding petrol,” Ahmed said.

Responding to a query, Hassan Shah, a senior member of the Petroleum Dealers Association, said the average storage capacity of each pump was around 25,000 to 30,000 litres of petrol.

“The petrol pumps cannot create any artificial shortage because this storage capacity accounts for around two days of sale,” Hassan Shah added.

He said there is no shortage of diesel, unlike petrol.

He added that the oil companies had failed to manage the situation and the government should take them to task instead of sealing filling stations.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026