KARACHI:On behalf of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and refineries operating in Pakistan, Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) informed on Monday that current stocks of petrol (motor gasoline) are continuously being replenished by OMCs from supplies being made available through local refinery’s production and regular arrival of vessels carrying imported petrol at the two ports namely, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Fauji Oil Terminal Company (FOTCO) at Port Qasim Authority (PQA).

It said in a statement that in the month of June, a total of around 850,000 metric tonnes (MT) of petrol is being supplied from the production of local refineries and imports to the distribution and retail network of the country. The current sales of petrol in the country are exceptionally high (50 % growth) due to the easing of COVID-19 lockdown in the past few weeks, causing depletion of stocks and low price of the product.

OCAC further said that average sales of petrol for the period July 2019 to May 2020 were around 600,000 MT per month which translates to sales of around 20,000 MT per day. However, for the reasons mentioned above, a high surge of sales and consumption of 30,000 MT per day had been experienced in the first six days of June 2020.

“This sudden increase of 50% in consumption is being complemented by the industry through additional imports in the months of June and July while there are few pockets of constrained supplies in some parts of the country. However, the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Division (MEPD), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), Local Refineries and Oil Marketing Companies are working round the clock to mitigate the situation,” OCAC further informed.

It said that in view of an adequate quantity of petrol being arranged through the petroleum products supply-chain, the industry would like to request all worthy consumers of petrol to fill up their vehicles as per their normal needs and do not resort to excessive buying. We, as Citizens of Pakistan can together solve our temporary issues through prudence and mutual cooperation, OCAC concluded.

Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) is an independent organization formed by Refineries, Oil Marketing Companies and a Pipeline Company. The role and objectives of OCAC is to represent the Downstream Oil Industry at various Government and non-Government forums in matters relating to common interests of the Industry. OCAC collects data as received from its Member Companies and prepares Downstream Oil statistics/reports for use by its Members for planning and operational purposes. OCAC currently has 34 member companies consisting of five Refineries, twenty-eight Oil Marketing Companies and one Pipeline Company.