Acknowle-dging the mixing of kerosene oil with high speed diesel (HSD) to maximise profit by the oil marketing companies (OMCs), the government Thursday stated that the practice will be curbed within a month. Secretary Petroleum Arshad Mirza while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, held under the chairmanship of Mir Israrullah Zehri, revealed that the practice has become rampant and influential people are involved in this illicit trade.
"One of the major issues is that the strong and powerful people are involved in making shortcut profit by mixing kerosene oil with the HSD," Mirza said. He briefed the committee about the measures being taken by the Ministry of Petroleum against the fuel adulteration, which included meetings with the OMCs; however, the longstanding proposals by the officials also irked the committee members.
The secretary suggested that the price of kerosene oil may be increased so that the mixing process would not be financially viable. As the officials maintained that the reason behind mixing kerosene oil with diesel is not short supply of diesel in the country, the committee was informed that there is a difference of around Rs 32 per litre in the price of kerosene oil and diesel. Mirza said that similar chemicals are used in kerosene oil and HSD; therefore, mixing of both the products is easy.
Currently, price of diesel is around Rs 75 per litre and it is the largest selling petroleum product with average monthly sales of around 650,000 tons in the country. The bureaucratic suggestions to increase the price of kerosene oil to match it with that of diesel price faced sharp reaction by the members of the committee.
To a question regarding audit of Independent Power Plants (IPPs), Mirza replied the plant owners have refused to conduct their audits. However, the secretary petroleum acknowledged that IPPs are getting the highest fuel quota in the country. Senators Israrullah Zehri and Fateh Muhammad Hassani asked the officials of the Petroleum Ministry and representatives of various oil companies why there is no suggestion to lower the diesel price.
With no appropriate answer to this query, Zehri even asked the Petroleum Ministry regarding actions taken against those OMCs and petrol pumps which are selling adulterated fuel. "You give us details about actions taken here and there, but tell me do you think that we are not from this place," Zehri said. "I can tell you the names of pumps under the state-owned oil company Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which are selling either adulterated diesel or smuggled Iranian petrol and diesel," he added. Fateh Muhammad Hassani pointed out that he has received reports directly from the locals that tankers of various oil companies are openly moving up to Pak-Iran border areas, wherein smuggled Iranian fuel is being transported to other parts of the country.
"They bring smuggled Iranian petrol and diesel and supply it to their respective pumps," he said and added, "But the worst thing is that you people sitting in Islamabad make flawed decisions and give us lame excuses." Senator Hassani even pointed out that he was told by a Petroleum Ministry official that smuggling issue would be taken up with the border control agencies. "That is one solution but what happened to your programme of installing trackers at each tanker," he questioned.
Senator Mir Muhammad Yousuf Badini said that they are worried over issue of fuel adulteration as low quality petrol and diesel damage engines, but smuggled Iranian oil is being openly sold across Balochistan.
The committee also discussed the issues of gas supply to gas producing areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Balochistan and Sindh. The committee proposed the ministry to give gas connections to gas producing areas on priority basis as it is creating a sense of deprivation among the locals. The Petroleum Ministry officials informed the committee members that Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited has started working on gas supply schemes in three gas producing districts of KPK with an amount of Rs 2.3 billion.
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