Overview
- APPPOA, which represents about 14,000 to 15,000 stations, warned Wednesday it will shut pumps nationwide unless Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik meets them.
- The association’s letter says dealers face operational, financial and pricing strains, along with sudden disruptions from force majeure events that make stations hard to run.
- The group says the recent Rs55-per-litre jump in petrol and diesel overshot global trends because petrol buyers are being used to subsidise diesel used by transport and farms.
- Officials said petrol cargoes for March and April are largely secured, which reduces import risk but does not resolve cash flow and pricing issues at retail stations.
- A shutdown could trigger a fresh fuel crisis at the pump, the association warned, as the government moves to weekly price reviews, trims free fuel for officials and uses short-term subsidies to hold prices.