ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Division Nadeem Babar while briefing the federal cabinet regarding the on-going petrol crisis said that the situation has exacerbated due to an inexplicable surge in demand of petroleum products and a drastic reduction in the supply of smuggled fuel from Iran. Nadeem Babar also explained to the federal cabinet that the supply had been increased to 849,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) in June 2020, compared to supply of 650,000 MT in June 2019. However, the fuel shortage still persisted since the demand has increased by a whopping 51 per cent. According to sources, the cabinet expressed dissatisfaction over Nadeem Babar’s explanation and demanded that those responsible for the fuel shortage should be taken to task. Sources further revealed that the supply of petroleum products has been normalised in most of the areas except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where around 400 unlicensed pumps and a large number of sub-agencies have been illegally hoarding petroleum products.

Source: Pakistan Today June 24, 2020 16:33 UTC