ISLAMABAD: Diesel supplies across Pakistan have begun drying up, largely due to a squeeze caused by a payments crisis, and some 15% of outlets in the country have stopped selling the fuel.
The worst affected is the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) - but in this case the crisis has been caused by the smuggling of diesel into Afghanistan, where its price is much higher than in Pakistan.
A number of factors were responsible for the crisis, Dawn said on Wednesday, quoting an official of the government-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
The government was not releasing the petroleum development levy (PDL) to the oil marketing companies; they, in turn, were defaulting to refineries; and these were defaulting to the importers. “Thus, there is a crisis-like situation in the entire oil supply chain,” Dawn noted. – Agencies |
