June 24, 2021 (MLN): Fuel shortage seems to be staring as the All-Pakistan Oil Tankers Contractors Association (APOTCA) has called for a strike to cut off supplies across the country from Thursday morning for an unspecified time.
According to the sources, Oil tankers contractors demand a 50% quota in the White Oil Pipeline (WOP), implying that OMCs should dispatch 50% through pipelines while 50% should be dispatched via roads as they invested billions of Rupees to upgrade their vehicles to transport oil supplies.
However, OMCs were dispatching only 40% of oil through tankers while 60% of the diesel was being supplied through pipelines, sources said.
Besides, the other demands include a 1% cut in the tax rate on transportation of oil and fixation of queue system at oil storage facilities.
Presently, it is 3%. As per the Tankers’ Association, the government had promised to cut it down to 2% in the FY22 budget, however, it remained unchanged at 3%.
The strike would ultimately create disruption to the supply which will lead to the shortage of petroleum products at fuel pumps as fuel pumps receive petroleum products through tankers from OMCs depots.
