Media, beggars, public behind petrol crisis: minister

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has held the media, beggars and the general public responsible for the petrol crisis, blaming the media for creating panic in the Pakistani market due to which the demand increased manifold giving birth to the unprecedented crisis.
Had the reporting been responsible, the petrol crisis would have never hit the coastal city of Karachi, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said in a joint meeting of three Senate Committees of Petroleum, Water and Power and Finance held here on Friday under the joint chairmanship of Senator Zahid Khan, Senator Nasrin Jalil and Senator Mohammad Yousaf.
The minister said that with the issuance of false statement of one of the representatives of dealers association, the demand for petrol increased and the media played an objectionable role in worsening the situation in Karachi though there was no shortage of petrol in the port city at all.
The petroleum minister attributed the petrol shortage crisis to a sudden increase in demand of petrol and the panic created by the media.Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the Joint Senate Committee that petrol shortage became an opportunity for beggars to earn money.
The petroleum minister also claimed that the crisis was due to poor financial health and the ministries of water and power and petroleum had nothing to do with the petrol shortage.The Joint Senate panel in the joint meeting declared the briefing of the petroleum minister unsatisfactory and decided to submit its report in the Senate session on January 30.
It also failed to reach a logical end in its probe into the petrol crisis in Punjab after two key ministers declined to attend the session.The Joint Senate Committee was called for the first time to probe the reasons for the petrol shortage crisis but two key ministers — Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Water and Power Minister Khawja Asif did not attend the meeting. Senators alleged that these two ministries were responsible for the petrol shortage crisis. Senator Moula Bakhsh Chandio and the petroleum minister exchanged harsh words. State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali also alleged Senator Zahid Khan for letting him down in the committee meeting.
Abdul Nabi Bangash said that finance and power ministers had not attended the meeting and, therefore, a token walkout should be staged. He said that Ishaq Dar and Khawja Asif were not ready to take responsibility whereas officials had been made a scapegoat. Moula Bakhsh Chandio said that these ministers were very powerful in the cabinet and therefore, they did not come. Nasreen Jalil said that report would be submitted in the Senate Session on January 30 and a motion would also be moved to avoid such a situation in future.
The senators staged a token walkout of the meeting over the absence of Water and Power Minister Khawja Asif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.Some senators demanded an independent inquiry and pledged to place a demand in the Senate session to form an independent commission to probe the petrol shortage crisis.
Senator Sughra Imam had questioned how much money oil industry barons had made by overpricing during the petrol shortage with the collusion of government departments. “It is too early to determine,” Secretary Petroleum Arshad Mirza said and added that beggars were the real beneficiaries who bought petrol from pumps and sold it at higher prices in the open market.
However, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) chairman said that Ogra teams had inspected and it had come to their knowledge that petrol was sold for even over Rs300 per liter.
The inquiry committee, headed by chairman board of directors of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Zahid Muzaffar and one board member Zafar Masood, had put the responsibility on the Ogra within 48 hours for not maintaining the required oil stocks for 20 days.“Ogra has no role to ensure 20 days of stock of products under the law,” he said adding that Ogra issues licenses after ensuring oil storages for 20 days. He said that Ogra had given two licenses whereas 11 licenses were given by the petroleum ministry and transferred to the regulator later.
He said that the country had oil storage capacity of 225,000 metric tons and was developing 82,000 metric tons capacity, which was under construction.Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi failed to respond to several questions raised by the senators. He said the oil market should be deregulated as its regulation had barred investment in the oil sector. He also failed to respond why the secretary petroleum, acting managing director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and other officials were suspended without serving any charge sheet.
“The prime minister thought it better to suspend them before initiating an inquiry into the petrol shortage,” Khaqan Abbasi said adding that a sudden increase in demand was the major cause of petrol shortage. He also added that shutdown of the Pak Arab Refinery and National Refinery Limited were also one reason for the shortage. He said that petrol shortage crisis had no link with power or finance ministries.
He also ruled out that PSO was facing any financial issue in the import of petrol. “PSO has never defaulted and its bank credit lines have not been choked,” he said. However, he could not respond to a question raised by Senator Talib Baloch that PSO had defaulted to LCs worth Rs45 billion. The PSO management had also pointed out in its letters that the entity had defaulted on LCs worth Rs45 billion.
Secretary Water and Power Younis Daga said that the Water and Power Ministry was not responsible for the petrol shortage crisis. “PSO provided fuel oil worth Rs45 billion since November and we have paid Rs69 billion,” he said adding that hydel generation would start rising in February and therefore loadshedding would come down.
Secretary Finance Waqar Masood said the government had cleared Rs480 billion after coming into power but the circular debt had again started rising due to price differences in power cost. “The Finance Ministry has financed Rs967 billion during the last 18 months,” he said.