Industry sends SOS amid heavy influx of Iranian oil

The increasing scale of smuggling of petroleum products has brought the country’s oil supply chain — from import to refineries and from marketing companies to pipeline transport network — to its knees. With a massive drop in registered sales, the country’s oil industry has sought emergent action from the prime minister and other state agencies to stop the smuggling of petroleum products that they claim is not only threatening their survival but is estimated to be causing over Rs120 billion in direct annual revenue loss to the government at the rate of about $36 million per month. Three major petroleum market stakeholders — Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), 22-member Oil Marketing Companies of Pakistan (OMAP) and Pak-Arab Pipeline Company Ltd (Papco) that transports various products through pipelines — have separately approached the federal government with unprecedented foul play in petroleum trading and sales.