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Pakistan
Draws A Contingency Plan In Anticipation of War
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Pak-Arab
mid-country refinery,
Pakistan
's largest oil storage in the private sector |
By
Asif Farouqi, IOL Pakistan Correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
June 2 (IslamOnline) - As the war clouds loom large over the
sub-continent, Pakistan started storage of petroleum products and
other essential items for a maximum period of time, government sources
said.
Besides
increasing the petroleum storage to the maximum of 45 days, the
government has decided to introduce rationing system in the country
should the hostilities with India escalate into war. As a routine,
Pakistan has oil reserve for almost ten days.
“We
have around 45 days worth of all petroleum stocks held by different
companies," Abdullah Yousuf, secretary of the Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural Resources, told reporters, adding: "We
have contingency plans to ensure we get our supplies," he added
without elaborating.
Oil
industry sources speculated earlier Thursday that Pakistan's federal
government might start rationing some key petroleum products, should
cross-border tensions with India degenerate into a prolonged war.
Rationing
system for food essentials was introduced during earlier wars with
India. Under this system, the government issues special passes to each
family for purchasing food items from the government stores,
essentially to avoid hoarding of these items. Rationing of petroleum
products would mean that the government would take all the petroleum
storage and marketing into its hands and distribute it under sever
controls.
“If
there is an actual war, there are steps and drills [to ensure supply
security], but there is no such thing at the moment," Yousuf
said.
The
government wouldn't rule the option of rationing out if the crisis
deepened. Rationing would be implemented only as an "extreme
measure," he said.
The
government early this week also completed the security measure for the
oil storage necessary in case of hostilities in the region. A
spokesman for national oil marketer and distributor Pakistan State Oil
said the company has taken "adequate security measures in view of
the present situation" to protect oil refineries, import
terminals and producing fields. The level of security at these assets
is "at the highest level," the spokesman said.
Tightened
security amid renewed major cross-border tensions normally involves
the deployment of anti-aircraft guns outside refineries, the
camouflaging of facilities and thorough vehicle checks.
Many
of these storages are potential targets for Indian strikes, should the
crisis spiral into full-blown war, the officials said. Pakistan has a
total of 37 depots and installations all across Pakistan, with 14 in
the province of Punjab and four in Sindh.
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