A local refinery official claimed on Thursday that 7,000 to 8,000 metric tons (approx. 8 million liters) of high-speed diesel (HSD) is being smuggled into Pakistan from Iran on a daily basis.

Smuggled Iranian HSD has devastated domestic refineries, which have a combined HSD production capacity of about 15,000 metric tons per day. According to Attock Refinery Limited CEO Adil Khattak, this issue is also costing the government billions of rupees in revenue.

Khattak told The News that the government either does not realize the gravity of the situation or is ignoring it due to a lack of foreign exchange for legal imports of deficit products.

The smuggling of Iranian petroleum products has been going on for years, but never at this scale. This issue can lead to a permanent shutdown of local refineries, Khattak warned.

He further stated that the refinery has reduced its output to 25% due to smuggled HSD.

Khattak added:

What is even more alarming is that the emboldened smuggler mafia, with no fear of any reprisal, is offering supply of smuggled products to OMCs (oil marketing companies) on discounted rates minus the petroleum development levy (PDL).

Source: Pro Pakistani