News Detail
Event Title: Meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, held at PSO Headquarters Karachi
Event Date: 2026-06-30
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum was held today at the Headquarters of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) in Karachi at 2:00 p.m. The session was convened to review critical matters pertaining to the petroleum sector. The meeting was attended by Senator Umer Farooq, Senator Qurat-ul-Ain Marri, Senator Abdul Wassy, Senator Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan, Senator Mir Dostain Khan Domki, Senator Jam Saifullah Khan, Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti and Senator Manzoor Ahmed.
PSO presented a comprehensive briefing to the Committee on its institutional role, operational performance, and effectiveness of fuel supply management in the context of the prevailing Gulf war situation. The Committee was informed that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had resulted in severe regional supply chain disruptions, including non-availability of refined petroleum products, non-availability of vessels, acute demand and supply shocks, and significantly higher freight and procurement costs. PSO briefed the Committee that it had proactively responded to these challenges through alternative sourcing from multiple regional and international supply channels, throughput optimization, demand-driven product redistribution, round-the-clock operations at key installations, and sustained coordination with law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The Committee was also briefed on PSO's future supply strategy, including efforts to strengthen strategic fuel reserves and long-term sourcing arrangements to enhance energy security.
The Committee also reviewed the Petroleum Division's Public Sector Development Programme proposals for 2026-27, covering project prioritization, fund allocations and alignment with national energy sector objectives. The Committee was informed that no new project allocations had been made under the current cycle, with funds only directed towards ongoing geological mapping activities.
This was then followed by MD PARCO, who presented a detailed briefing on the LPG tanker explosion incident of January 27, 2025, which had occurred at an illegal decanting facility in Multan, resulting in casualties, injuries, and damage to private property. The Committee was informed that PARCO Pearl Gas (Private) Limited had, on humanitarian grounds, disbursed compensation to the affectees. The Senators raised concerns regarding accountability for the incident and also raised objections to the characterisation of the compensation as humanitarian assistance, noting that PPGL bore responsibility as the principal entity that had engaged the third-party contractor involved. The Committee sought firm assurances on measures taken to prevent recurrence of the incident.
MD PARCO then briefed the Committee on a comprehensive set of immediate, medium-term, and long-term preventive and corrective actions that have since been implemented, including a multi-layer Vehicle Tracking System deployed across all fleets, upgraded tamper-evident sealing mechanisms, enhanced driver monitoring, and route surveillance, among other safety measures.
The Committee was then addressed by Chairman OCAC who underscored policy continuity as the most critical factor for sustaining foreign investment in the petroleum sector, cautioning that frequent and unpredictable changes to the petroleum pricing mechanism could create significant investor uncertainty, thereby impacting foreign investment.
The meeting ended with the Senate Committee directing all relevant entities to submit follow-up reports while emphasizing the importance of institutional accountability, good governance, and uninterrupted petroleum supply as overriding national priorities.