Petrol reserves sufficient for 27 days, diesel for 21: petroleum secretary tells Senate committee

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has sufficient petrol reserves for 27 days and diesel reserves for 21 days, Petroleum Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh said on Monday while addressing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum.

The standing committee, chaired by Senator Manzoor Ahmed, was meeting after the government announced a Rs55 per litre hike in the prices of both petrol and high-speed diesel in response to tensions in the Middle East.

The secretary added that jet fuel (JP1) reserves were available for 14 days, crude oil reserves for 11 days and liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves for nine days.

Additionally, he informed the committee that the import of oil of quality below Euro 5 standard had now been allowed.

Sheikh said that 70 per cent of Pakistan’s petrol comes from the Middle East, and due to the suspension of ship movements affecting supply, prices have increased.

The price of high-speed diesel rose from $88 to $187, while petrol increased from $74 to $130, he added.

“A ministerial committee formed by the prime minister reviews the situation of petroleum products on a daily basis,” Sheikh told the meeting, adding that the government was trying to increase the use of existing reserves.

Senator Manzoor Ahmed said that the “entire benefit was passed on” to oil marketing companies. In response, the petroleum secretary said that the price hike had been adopted to stop the hoarding of petroleum and this “did not benefit........

© Dawn Business