The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Wednesday identified 19 illegal storage facilities in different areas of Punjab which could allegedly be used for hoarding petroleum products, causing fuel shortages across the country.

The Authority in a letter written to the Punjab chief secretary pointed out the illegal storages which might be in use for dumping/storing petroleum products for inventory gains and contribute to the existing shortage in different cities of Punjab, being an illegal act, OGRA Spokesman Imran Ghaznavi said in a press statement.

He said OGRA had directed the chief secretary to take strict action against the illegal hoarders, sharing a list of illegal petrol/diesel storages, identified through market intelligence. It is aimed at avoiding deliberate shortage [of the petroleum products] in the province.

Imran Ghaznavi said the Authority had also dispatched its enforcement teams to check the identified storages and ensure a smooth supply of petroleum products across the province.

Petrol shortage hits major cities of Punjab

Long queues of two-wheelers and cars are being at filling stations in most parts of the Punjab province following a reduction in supplies by oil marketing companies.

A number of pumps in the various cities including Kharian, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Okara and Shakargarh have also been closed due to the shortage of petrol, while the filling stations with oil attracted long queues.

As the media catches the air of petrol shortage, panicked citizens rushed to petrol pumps on Tuesday.

The widespread rumours of an additional increase in petroleum products are another reason behind the shortage. Consumers want to have more oil for saving money while petrol pumps intend to earn more by creating an artificial shortage of fuel.

Petrol dealers insisted that the companies had cut down supplies of petroleum products to the province over long delays in the issuance of letters of credit by private banks for imports.

However, Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Musadik Malik refuted the news of the oil shortage and said that the country has petrol quantity for the next 20 days at least.

Earlier this month, parts of the country faced a similar situation, before the price hike, but despite the painful addition of Rs35 per liter, the basic commodity is still short.

The sources claimed that only a few fuel stations are offering petrol in several cities including Lahore, Sargodha, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, and Faisalabad.

Motorcyclist Ahmad Awais reported the closure of most filling stations on the Multan and Ferozepur Roads.

Distressed people from the various cities complained of fuel shortage while others shared the ordeal to wait for hours to get fuel petrol.

Several reports hint at panic buying at petrol stations as several pumps had already stopped sales owing to the limited availability of stocks.