ISLAMABAD: The country’s oil industry has pushed back against the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) aggressive push for complete digital tracking of more than 16,000 retail pumps by June 2026, calling the plan impractical, financially unviable and imposed without consultation.
In a formal letter to Ogra and the Petroleum Division, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) and the Oil Marketing Association of Pakistan (OMAP) termed the regulator’s directives “dictatorial” and warned that the scale of the required integration linking fuel stations, depots and storages to a central dashboard could not be achieved in the timeline set by the authority.
Under the proposed plan, all petrol pumps must be digitally integrated through the Auto Tank Gauging (ATG) system, which tracks real-time fuel levels and sales. However, industry representatives said the required hardware and system design is largely off-the-shelf, costly and would necessitate procurement worth Rs55–60 billion nationwide.
“We are already paying heavy fees to Ogra and PITB for compliance. Now they want us to foot another massive bill? Do they want us to go bankrupt?” an industry executive remarked after a heated meeting where Ogra insisted on strict compliance with deadlines of January 2026, January 2027 and June 2026 for various stages of digital integration.
Tensions escalated when Ogra officials reportedly refused to entertain objections during the meeting, prompting OCAC to hold a separate session where members unanimously rejected the regulator’s stance.
In its follow-up letter to Ogra, the OCAC criticised the regulator for reducing the meeting to a one-sided monologue and disregarding the industry’s concerns. The association highlighted that the ATG system is a capital-intensive custom installation that requires a realistic implementation period of at least five years.
OMCs also warned that their profit margins have remained stagnant for two years, leaving them unable to absorb additional financial burdens while simultaneously facing rising operational costs.
Meanwhile, a joint delegation of OCAC and OMAP met Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik to convey their concerns and seek intervention. The minister, after hearing the industry’s position, asked Ogra to address the practical challenges raised and ensure any transition remains feasible for the sector.
Industry players underscored that despite paying millions of rupees for the Track and Trace System’s earlier phases, no tangible progress or completion timeline has yet been shared by the authorities.
With the deadline just months away and the industry unwilling to shoulder the massive cost, the standoff between fuel marketers and the regulator appears far from over—raising concerns about another looming regulatory-industry clash in the petroleum sector.
