The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) is agitating against the hoarding of fuel supply by all oil marketing companies operating in Pakistan, including Pakistan State Oil, Shell Pakistan Limited, Total Parco Pakistan Ltd, and Attock Petroleum Limited, among others.
“Whenever there is an expected price rise in fuel prices, these companies hoard fuel supply, causing artificial shortages and undue hardship to petroleum dealers and the general public,” said Hassan Shah, spokesperson for PPDA.
He added, “Despite clear orders and 100% payments made, these companies are not releasing fuel stock, citing excuses like ‘capping’ or offering only average fuel stoking instability in the in the petroleum product market.”
He said this is a clear violation of rules and regulations, and we demand immediate intervention from the relevant authorities like the OGRA and the Competition Commission of Pakistan.
PPDA has requested the Chairman of OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) to intervene in the matter and direct oil marketing companies to release fuel stock to petroleum dealers.
Petroleum dealers are also meeting Chairman of the Senate on (Friday June 28) to apprise him about the issue so that he can direct the Ministry of Petroleum and OGRA to hold inquiries into the matter at the highest level.
As soon as the news of a likely gas price hike is aired on TV channels, the customers swarm to filling stations to buy fuel. Many petrol pumps cannot satisfy the needs of the public owing to low inventories, which results in complications, he informed.
The OGRA teams should check to see if the fuel order has been placed and payment has been made before fining petrol pumps for not supplying fuel to consumers.
If the filling stations did not get oil despite paying in advance, OMCs should be penalized for suspending fuel supply, and the petroleum dealers should be spared, he demanded.
He added that OGRA should mobilize its enforcement team to ensure that all the OMCs keep their retail outlets wet and well-supplied with petroleum products.
He demanded that any attempt at hoarding must be strongly discouraged by the authorities to avoid panic, and actions may be taken against OMCs that maintain stocks lower than the mandatory requirement.
“We will not tolerate this exploitation of petroleum dealers and the public,” said Hassan Shah, adding that we demand a fair and transparent system and will take all necessary steps to meet our justified demands.
