The Ministry of Energy has identified several constraints on Karachi ports, which have reduced its oil handling capacity by half, costing the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) billions of rupees annually in demurrages, and has proposed the construction of a new jetty, night navigation, and allocating FOTCO only for imported finish petroleum products to overcome the constraints.

Pakistan imports over 19 million tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products each year, according to the report. All of these imports will take place at Karachi’s two ports, KPT and PQA/FOTCO. The oil industry has identified a number of port restrictions that result in wasted time, delays in vessel berthing, and the resulting incidence of demurrage.

In summary, the Petroleum Division (Ministry of Energy) has noticed that the Oil Industry has reported several integrity and maintenance issues at Oil Piers (OP) 1, 2, and 3 at Keamari Port, which will be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE).

All three oil piers at KPT are currently working at a reduced capacity, owing to issues with loading arms and the need for maintenance, which is preventing the smooth import of petroleum products.