ISLAMABAD: Local oil refineries have hinted that the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have started low uplifting the local stock of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) ahead of the expected reduction of petroleum prices in September, which may disturb fuel supply across the country.
In this respect, one of the main refineries, Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) has warned the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) that the ARL will go for a complete shutdown of the refinery if it would not direct the OMCs to lift petrol and HSD stocks.
In the second letter to the chairman OGRA, the management of the ARL Refinery argued low upliftments of petroleum products especially HSD have resulted in an accumulation of high stock of petroleum products.
“We had earlier temporarily shut down one of our distillation unit and now have further reduced our refinery throughput. We are now operating at a bare minimum throughput of 65 percent of our capacity”, the letter says.
If the dispatch pattern persists, a complete refinery shutdown now appears imminent by the coming weekend, it maintained.
The ARL management asked the OGRA to issue directives to the OMCs for taking maximum supplies of the HSD and the PMG to sustain the refinery operations failing which complete disruption of the entire crude oil supply chain including gas supplies from the local oilfields cannot be ruled out.
Further, supplies to the armed forces and the Islamabad Airport shall also be affected.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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