ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources Monday made it clear that the reserve of petroleum products was available in sufficient quantity to meet defence needs of the country.
Currently, the reserve of petroleum products is as per routine requirements, the ministry said in a press release issued here.
The ministry said it had an effective mechanism to constantly monitor the stock of petroleum products by holding fortnightly meetings.
According to the ministry, strategic and normal stocks are two different entities. The fuel used for armed forces is sufficiently available but details cannot be made public due to security reasons.
At present, the countrywide stocks of motor gasoline (petrol) is 225,674 metric tons (MTs) which is sufficient for 13 days cover as per current average per day demand of the country, which is around 17,500 MTs.
Besides, two vessels of motor gasoline, carrying quantities of 17,000 MTs are waiting for berthing, while two more vessels having quantity of around 67,000 MTs are expected to arrive Monday night.
The country wide stocks of High Speed Diesel (HSD) is 466,821 MTs which is sufficient for 17 days cover as per current average per day demand of the country, which is around 27,310 MTS.
Moreover, two vessels of HSD, carrying quantity of 106,000 MTs are waiting for berthing, while one vessel having quantity of around 54,000 MTs is under discharge.
It is pertinent to mention here that the total storage of HSD is around 1.2 million tons which is sufficient for 44 days cover.
At present, the demand of HSD has increased substantially due to harvesting season at approximately 27,310 MTs as compared to normal demand of 22,000 MTs.
Furnace oil is mainly used in power sector and its country wide stocks are 759,022 MTs which is sufficient for 27 days cover as per current average per day demand of the country, which is around 28,320 MTs.
In addition to the above quantity of furnace oil, three vessels of furnace oil, carrying quantity of 204,974 MTs are waiting for berthing at Fauji Oil Terminal (FOTCO), Karachi.
From August 14, 2016 to October 31, 2016, one Oil Pier (OP-1) at Keamari port remained unoperational due to its maintenance causing a temporary disturbance in import handling of motor gasoline (petrol).
With the close coordination among all stakeholders, Ministry of Petroleum managed all imports without any disruption of supply chain in the country.
The said oil pier is now operational and import handling at Keamari has improved.
At present, there is sufficient supply of petroleum products throughout the country, keeping in view the current surge in demand of the petroleum products.
Ministry of Petroleum has taken proactive action advising the Oil Marketing Companies to import as per plan.
Simultaneously, refineries have also been advised to maximize their production in order to cater to the country wide demand.
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