All Pakistan Oil Tankers Contractors Association (APOTCA) has called a nationwide strike, suspending the supply of petroleum products to the whole country until further notice.
If prolonged, the strike could result in an acute shortage of petroleum products across the country, with citizens fearing that it would engender a petrol crisis, similar to the one that was witnessed across Pakistan in June last year.
ALSO READ
Here’s Everything You Need to Know About PSL 2021 Final
According to details, APOTCA is demanding a 50% quota in the White Oil Pipeline (WOP). The WOP stretches from Port Qasim, Karachi, to the Pak-Arab Refinery Company (PARCO), Multan. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have laid the WOP to transport oil from Karachi to Multan.
This means APOTCA wants OMCs to supply 50% of the oil from roads through oil tankers and 50% from the WOP.
President APOTCA, Abdullah Afridi, has said that owners and contractors of oil tankers invested billions to upgrade their vehicles to supply oil from Karachi to the rest of the country. However, the OMCs have laid the WOP to transport oil initially from Karachi to Multan and then to the upcountry.
APOTCA has also demanded a reduction in taxes on oil transportation and a queue system at oil storage facilities.
President APOTCA said that the federal government had promised to slash the tax rate on oil transportation to 2% from 3% in FY 2021-22 budget. However, the tax rate has remained unchanged at 3%.
ALSO READ
Hackers Leak Personal Info of 260,000 Patari Users
He added that OMCs prioritize filling the oil tankers owned by influential people without observing the queue system under OGRA rules, which directly impacts more than 15,000 registered tankers.
On the other hand, OMCs have claimed that 100% of the oil is not supplied through the WOP, adding that oil tankers will never become redundant in the oil supply chain.
However, the role of oil tankers will be limited to supplying oil from Karachi to other cities and to petrol pumps from oil depots built all over the country.
The post APOTCA Announces Nationwide Petroleum Strike appeared first on .
