Pak's oil industry warns of high-speed diesel shortage

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 23 : Pakistan's oil industry has warned the Imran Khan led-PTI government and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) that a crisis is looming in high-speed diesel (HSD) supplies, especially during the peak harvest season, due to a host of external and domestic factors, local media reported.
In a letter, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) told the Ministry of Energy and the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) that the stock position at present was satisfactory, but could lead to a major crisis unless effective measures were put in place, Dawn newspaper reported citing sources in the petroleum division.
"If planning is not done today, we may face problems in meeting the demand during harvesting season," wrote the OCAC, adding that because of financial issues of Hascol, the local banks were reluctant to raise credit limits for the oil sector since banks had identified oil companies as high-risk entities.
The OCAC said shortages of HSD had been reported over the last 10 days by international energy experts, chiefly because of depletion in HSD stocks in the United States of America, exceptionally high gas prices and lower than normal through-put operations of refineries in the European Union, the Pakistani newspaper reported.
Moreover, China has slapped a ban on HSD exports, said the OCAC. Likewise, the HSD prices are higher than petrol prices, a phenomenon not seen during the last 18 months, Dawn newspaper reported.
The OCAC has called upon the government and the regulator to engage with refineries to plan their crude procurement for March-June period to operate on maximum through-put to meet high demand, the Pakistani newspaper reported.