No to dirty fuel for double wheelers

ISLAMABAD: The top authorities in Petroleum Division have recommended to the prime minister that the usage of dirty fuel (RON 80-82) for motor bikes shouldn’t be allowed as it will be tantamount to going backward as currently the Euro-II fuel is being used across the country for all vehicles.

Petroleum Division has come up with the argument that if refineries start low grade production, the furnace oil production will increase and that surge in furnace oil production could not be lifted as in the time to come consumption of furnace will be no more even by power sector. Furnace oil has almost been replaced by RLNG in electricity generation. More importantly the dirty fuel will be having more sulphur that will be damaging more for the environment.

“Yes, we have recommended to Prime Minister Imran Khan that the usage of low-grade petrol for double wheeler wouldn’t be a sane decision as it will cause increase in production of furnace oil of which the usage in the country is going to be minimised and secondly it will be detrimental for the environment as RON 80-82 will be having too much sulphur contents in the dirty fuel,’ Mr Nadeem Babar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister, confirmed this to The News.

Pakistan had abandoned low-grade petrol RON 80-82 almost three decades back and in fact it had switched over from RON 87 to RON 92 around two years ago. And going backward will not be a sane decision when the country has switched over to EURO-II.

“I have held a couple of meetings on the subject when prime minister has refereed to me the proposal of Abdullah Malik, Ogra Oil Member and I examined the proposal and weighed the merits and demerits of the proposal and carved out the recommendations for the premier to adopt.”

However, the other relevant official said that the Petroleum Division also got the input from oil marketing companies (OMCs) and PAMA (Pakistan Automatic Manufacturers Association). Both the organisations opposed the proposal. The oil marketing companies (OMCs) have also opposed the idea to use the low-grade fuel as they will have to invest in additional nozzles at all retail outlets along with keeping separate storage tanks across the country to maintain the supply chain.

Dr Abdullah Malik had briefed prime minister some weeks back on the proposal advocating if the low-grade petrol is provided to motorbikes, double wheelers will have a sigh of Rs6-7 per litre and this will also come as a ploy to beat the inflation. The 35-40 percent petrol is consumed by motorbikes in the country. Mr Malik also argued while briefing prime minister that usage of dirty fuel for motorbikes will also help plummet oil import bill by $1 billion per annum. However, Petroleum Division refused to subscribe the proposal of Dr Abdullah Malik, rather it opposed it.