Supply of furnace oil: dispute between Pepco and PSO remains unresolved

Mostly thermal power station established in Southern Punjab have cut their power generation by 50 percent, while Kapco had shut its turbines as the dispute between the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) relating to the supply of furnace oil remains unresolved, and the power shortfall has reached 6,000MW.
The power crisis in the country has broken all past records. People of Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yarkhan, Sahiwal, Sadiqabad Muzaffargarh are experiencing 10 to 12 hours loadshedding daily in scorching heat when the temperature increased to 42 degree Celsius. Grid stations remained closed for several hours not only in the day, but also at night, making life miserable for the citizens.
Sources told here on Monday that PSO has stopped 30,000 tonnes per day of supply of furnace oil to Pepco due to the non-payment of its dues on account of oil supply, rendering several powerhouses idle for the last four days. Pepco arrears against the PSO supplies have piled up beyond Rs 200 billion. The total power generation has currently been recorded at 9,500MW, while the demand has shot up to 15,500MW, leaving Pepco with a shortfall of 6,000MW. Thus, the duration of load shedding in all major cities has been increased to 12 hours.