Concerns over fuel supplies dominated Pakistan's Senate on Friday, as PPP Senator Sherry Rehman asked whether petrol would be available in December. Her question came even after Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani assured the house there was no supply problem.
During question hour, Kayani said more than 10 million people were benefiting from the government's targeted fuel subsidy and that Rs1,676 billion had been budgeted under the petroleum levy for the current year. Relief, he said, was going to motorcyclists, rickshaw and loader operators and owners of small cars. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week that Pakistan had enough supplies to last through November.
Rehman demanded that the government brief parliament on any rationing or contingency plans. She said Pakistan imports nearly 70 per cent of its liquefied petroleum gas, and that only two LPG cargoes were expected this year compared with five last year. Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas warned that a war reaching key maritime chokepoints would deepen the country's energy crisis.
On the same day, Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association chairman Malik Khuda Baksh urged consumers not to panic-buy, saying long queues at pumps had created artificial shortages in some areas before. Refineries were operating and crude and products were arriving from Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Oman, he said, adding: "Price remains an issue, but that is a different matter." Industry estimates put November demand at about 750,000 tonnes of diesel and 630,000 tonnes of petrol.