Petrol stocks fall to just nine days of needs

ISLAMABAD: The stock of oil in the country has plunged again, sparking jitters among economic managers and reminding of the acute petrol shortage that struck the country, particularly Punjab, in January 2015.

Despite facing such a crisis earlier, which led to the suspension of top officials of Pakistan State Oil as well as the petroleum secretary, the stock of petrol has again dropped. This shows that the government has failed to frame a strategy for keeping strategic reserves.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, in a meeting on September 23, noted that the country had petrol stocks for only nine days of requirement and described them as too low, say officials.

This was contrary to the licensing condition for oil marketing companies, which bound them to keep oil stocks for at least 20 days.

Too low

Meeting participants told the ECC that stocks of petroleum products averaged 14 days on September 21, causing serious concern among the economic managers.

However, petrol reserves had dropped to such levels that they could meet only nine days of needs.