Islamabad, Sep 1: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has come under fire from the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) for continuously authorizing new imports of high-speed diesel (HSD) in spite of the nation’s already excessive stock levels.
The agricultural season and the impending maintenance outage of Pakistan’s largest refinery are among the baseless and careless arguments put up by OGRA, according to a recent statement from OCAC.
Refinery maintenance schedules, according to the Council, are carefully planned, and stock levels are carefully considered to ensure that supply needs are met during shutdowns. Nevertheless, given that the nation has more than 45 days’ worth of HSD on hand, these plans offer no convincing justification for allowing additional imports. Refineries have been renting more space for storing HSD since April 2024, which is detrimental to the public exchequer.
Additionally, the OCAC pointed out that imports of HSD have already negatively impacted local refineries and have already undercut local demand. These issues were previously brought up in Product Review Meetings (PRM) and were noted in OGRA’s April–July 2024 report, which also highlighted the nation’s excessive stock levels.
In spite of this, an oil marketing company (OMC) was granted permission by OGRA to import 15,000 tons in June and July, 40,000 tons in August, and 38,000 tons in September of 2024.
The council expressed disapproval of OGRA’s strategy, claiming that high import levels promote unfair market practices and unnecessarily strain Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
The OCAC urged OGRA to put the integrity of the country’s oil supply chain first and stop needless imports that are undermining the domestic oil sector and fostering unfair competition.
