Smuggling of oil costs Pakistan $35.6m per day

Pakistan is facing a loss of around $35.6 million on a daily basis owing to the smuggling of around 4,000 tonnes of oil, ARY News reported, citing an oil companies association.

The Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), a representative body of oil companies, in a letter to the secretary of petroleum, urged for a countrywide crackdown against the oil smugglers.

The council sought the government and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to legislate against the smuggling that was disrupting the supply chain of the commodity.

According to the OCAC, the petrol and diesel sales dipped 6.5% in the country during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2023-24, as against the previous year.

The association also demanded the closure of illegal petrol pumps and a campaign against oil smuggling.

Read More: Petrol price kept unchanged; diesel jumps by Rs1.77

Meanwhile, Pakistan kept the price of petrol unchanged in the previous fortnight’s revision while high-speed diesel price was hiked.

In a late-night announcement, the Ministry of Finance announced the new prices for the next fortnight, starting from March 15.

The diesel price went up by Rs1.77 with immediate effect to Rs285.56 per litre from Rs283.79 earlier. Since this fuel is mostly used by the transport sector, a hike in its price is considered inflationary.