Some Agencies facilitating oil smuggling, says Petroleum secretary

ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Petroleum on Thursday said that there are some agencies facilitating smuggling of oil, ARY News reported.

Federal secretary petroleum, in the hearing of the National Assembly’s standing committee for petroleum, said that the Iranian oil being consumed in the country on the massive scale.

He said that the country has no further storage facilities available for diesel and in view of this situation two diesel cargoes have been cancelled.

Petroleum secretary said that the country has initiated exploration of geo-thermal and hydrogen resources. “The Hydrogen Development Fund has also been established,” he said.

“We are trying to address the issue of diminishing natural gas reserves,” he said. “We have pointed out 19 offshore blocks for exploration and 12 offshore blocks will be auctioned in this June,” petroleum secretary said.

Director General Peroleum-Concession in the parliamentary hearing shared that the provinces have reservations over the Pakistan Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority Bill 2022. “There are differences between the federation and provinces,” he said.