Punjab, home of the country’s half population, is now struggling with fuel shortage as long queues were spotted at fuel stations in parts of the region.
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.
Media reports claimed that only a few fuel stations are offering petrol in several cities including Lahore, Gujranwala, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, and Faisalabad. Amid the reports of petrol shortage, panicked motorists rushed to petrol pumps on Tuesday.
Social media users also took to Twitter where hundreds of tweets were shared showing extended queues.
Pakistan O&G on verge of collapse, largest refinery shuts for a week amid severe economic crisis.
Empty Petrol Pumps in Lahore pic.twitter.com/rwoCGlk0Md
— JITIN (@jitin_bhalla) February 6, 2023
Lahore me bhi Kisi jagah nai mil rha…ab in Brighton k agey hathyar daal ker hakumat petrol barha degi…koi writ ha is hakumat ki?
— Ingenieur M Zeeshan Ch (@zeeshan8017) February 6, 2023
Earlier, the central government rejected the oil shortage, however, the oil companies stated otherwise.
The recent development comes as Pakistan suffered depleting foreign exchange reserves, which are not enough to cover three weeks of imports; the incumbent government is taking desperate moves to seal a deal with IMF.
