By IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s fuel reserves have plummeted to their lowest level in the country’s history. Stocks of kerosene and diesel are sufficient only till the end of this week.
Quoting informed sources, Dawn said Tuesday that “the situation had not aggravated in a day or two. The ministry of petroleum had been informing the government about the situation consistently since late October”.
Under standard operating procedures (SOPs), the government and its companies are required to maintain a minimum stock of 21 days of every product at all times. The SOPs are laid down in the ‘Blue Book’ for strategic government organisations to handle crises.
Petroleum Secretary Farrukh Qayyum and Additional Secretary Shaukat Hayat Durrani could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts, Dawn said.
There will be no immediate impact of the depletion on the common man, experts said, adding the situation can lead to a crisis in future and should be handled with extreme care.
Pakistan’s kerosene requirement is 920 tonnes per day. The country has total kerosene storage capacity for 80 days.
The current storage of 3,800 tonnes is about nine percent of the total capacity.
High speed diesel (HSD) stocks are at around 125,457 tonnes, which can meet consumption requirements of six days at the average need of about 22,000 tonnes a day. The country has the capacity to store HSD for up to 39 days of requirement.
Light diesel oil, comparatively a low-consumption product, has a stock of about 2,500 tonnes that is enough for four days, at the rate of 558 tonnes per day.
The situation is comparatively better for furnace oil, petrol and jet fuel as their stocks were enough for 26 days, 15 days, and 20 days.
“The sources said the major reason for the drop in stocks was cash problems faced by the oil companies to have sufficient imports and non-availability of cargo in Arab countries because of advance supply orders,” Dawn said.
Secondly, some of the refineries have increased their jet fuel production that directly affects kerosene production because both are alternative products.
Pakistan’s oil import bill has been estimated at $8.8 billion, but is likely to exceed $10 billion.
The estimate was based on crude prices at $70 per barrel, but this is now at $98 per barrel.