Pakistan opens customs-bonded facilities to foreign petroleum suppliers for storage and re-export

The federal cabinet's Economic Coordination Committee has cleared a policy letting overseas petroleum suppliers store fuel in Pakistan under bond. Stored cargo can later be sold to oil marketing firms and refineries or shipped abroad again, Profit by Pakistan Today reported. The aim is to draw foreign investment into fuel storage and strengthen domestic energy supply.

Suppliers keep ownership while the fuel sits in bond, so shipments need not be released for domestic use straight away. Stock may also move by the national pipeline to inland locations nearer to major consumption centres. Proposed sites include Port Qasim, KPT/Kemari, Hub, Gwadar, Mahmood Kot and Machike, Sheikhupura, subject to approvals. Duties and taxes do not apply while the fuel stays bonded, and the buyer pays them if it is sold locally.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority holds first refusal on the last 10% of bonded fuel, with two days to decide whether it stays in the local market. In declared emergencies such as war or a documented supply collapse, the government can take private stocks at the prevailing overseas price, paid in foreign currency within 15 days. Suppliers face no minimum-stock obligation under the framework. Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said the policy could draw Gulf investment into coastal bonded storage.