Oil crisis brews as depots run dry

The government on Tuesday feared oil crisis as retail outlets of some oil marketing companies (OMCs) were reportedly found dry at a few locations in the country. Sources said that the country had enough stocks of oil as big oil companies like Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Shell were maintaining sufficient stocks. Therefore, the petroleum dealers have started hoarding oil stocks to make inventory gains. The government will pay this amount to the oil companies during the next revision of oil prices. Therefore, the oil companies regarding the exchange loss did not seem to justify their stance as they faced a loss of Rs10 per litre on diesel and gained Rs18 per litre due to recent increase in oil prices.