Shortage of Petrol in Lahore continued for the fourth consecutive day in Lahore however, the diesel is available on the pumps. Long queues of people were seen on the petrol pumps. Due to the petrol shortage citizens faced massive transportation problems due to a further increase in the shortage of petrol in the city, as fuel remained available at only five to 10 percent of filling stations due to supply problems.
The ambulance services in the city also suffered due to the petrol shortage. Long queues of commuters were seen at filling stations situated on Davis Road, Empress Road, Shahra-e-Fatima Jinnah, Johar Town, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Feroze Pur Road and Barkat Market.
Keeping in view the gap between demand and supply, these petrol pumps were providing only Rs 100-200 of fuel to motorcyclists and up to Rs 500 of fuel to cars. Since Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) was available in the city, the shortage of petrol mainly irked motorcyclists and the car owners who were having single fuel consumption facilities in their vehicles.
Due to the shortage of petrol unauthorised sale of petrol has risen sharply in the wake of the shortage at fuel stations, with some shops overcharging by up to Rs 50 per litre. These shops are not regularised by the government. Usually, these shops overcharge by up to Rs 10 or Rs 15 but of late they have started charging up to Rs 100 per litre.
On Saturday, petrol stations, which had the product available, were seen having long queues of cars and the motor bikes. The sight was common at all the petrol stations. The shops illegally selling petrol have mushroomed in some of the most populated areas of the city including Ichhra, Sandah, Rang Mehal, Misri Shah, Sheranwala Gate, Mohni Road, Bilal Gunj, Bhati, Baghbanpura, Garhi Shahu, Darogawala, Shadbagh, Naseerabad, Data Nagar, Singhpura, Shadman and Dharampura.
Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association President Chaudhry Sadiq while talking to Business Recorder said that situation would improve during the next week because the Parco refineries situated in Mahmood Kot, Kot Addu district and Muzaffargarh had started work and would resume supply from Monday.
Elaborating the reasons behind the shortage he said Parco, the largest refinery in the country, is unable to supply petrol due to damages suffered in the recent floods. Secondly, petrol is mainly coming from Karachi and due to damages to roads, the supply system has been slowed down and thirdly, most drivers of oil tankers have not come back from Eid holidays.
He also said that another reason is that the Pakistan State Oil, which is the biggest company, has also reduced the supply which created panic among the consumers. More over, he said that consumers lack patience and they started fighting with the petrol pump owners and as a result they close the pumps.
Deputy Business Manager Pakistan State Oil Chaudhry Rafiq while talking to Business Recorder said that as a result of shortage of petrol on Caltex, Shell, Total pumps there was lot of pressure on PSO pumps and due to the rush on the PSO pumps they were empty in two to three hours.