ISLAMABAD: Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on Sunday clarified some ‘misconceptions’ about the availability and consumption of furnace oil (FO), saying it was ‘well stocked’ to meet the winter energy needs of the country.
The minister took to his official Twitter handle to state that “in summers Pakistan faced a moderate shortage of furnace oil as the FO (based) power plants ran more than last year (as per merit order) due to low water levels in dams.”
In a series of tweets, Hammad stated that the FO consumption was 116% higher.
Thread on Refineries & Furnace oil; It is important to clarify some misconceptions.
— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 26, 2021
-In summers Pakistan faced a moderate shortage of Furnace oil as FO power plants ran more than last year (as per merit order) due to low water levels in dams. FO consumption was 116% higher. 1/4
“Now the FO plants are running because of lowering flows from dams (canals closure) and in a couple of days will be consuming 13,000 tonnes/day of FO,” he said, adding that the country was well stocked on FO in case of further LNG defaults.
The minister informed that “a new refinery policy is being finalised to shift refineries away from [the] production of FO.”