Allowing Wapda to import oil directly: MoP opposes proposal

The Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) has opposed a proposal of Water and Power Ministry to allow Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to directly import furnace oil saying, ''the basic idea is ill-conceived and its fate would not be different from one of 2007 when the similar move ended-up in utter failure."
MoP has two basic grounds to oppose the Water and Power ministry''s proposal- practically not workable idea as the ministry of Water and Power has not its own infrastructure for import of fuel oil to ensure uninterrupted supply to thermal power plants and no independent source of financing for the import. MoP has referred to 2007, when the Water and Power ministry had presented the same proposal and also got nod for it, but its entire plan ran into trouble due to lack of required expertise, know-how and infrastructure for supply of furnace oil by it.
"We have to see what happened to the similar proposal just a few years ago before reaching to any conclusion on the proposal," MoP observed. PSO has a mandate of importing fuel oil for thermal power plants. Being Pakistan''s major oil marketing company, it has all facilities including storage and human resource to import fuel oil.
Despite acute financial crisis in the recent months it is not only somehow managing the fuel oil import but also absorbing huge loss such as interest on banks loans for delay in payment by independent power producers (IPPs) and Wapda itself.
MoP officials have a number of solid reasons to resist the Water and Power ministry''s efforts to allow it direct import of furnace oil. They argue that the idea has several serious questions such as to why PSO should allow any other department to use its infrastructure when it was against its business interest. Secondly, they see no logic in the proposal when the Water and Power ministry has no other channel for financing fuel oil import. The Water and Power ministry has forwarded a proposal that it should be allowed to import fuel oil directly to put an end to on-going controversy between PSO and PEPCO over payment issue.