Ogra mandates safety and branding standards for oil tankers

KARACHI: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has instructed oil marketing companies (OMCs) to ensure full compliance with safety and branding guidelines for tank lorries used to transport petroleum products across Pakistan.

A circular issued to all OMCs outlines specific requirements for safety standards, colour schemes, and branding of tank lorries. Ogra emphasised that all tank lorries transporting petroleum must adhere to safety standards, be equipped with tracker devices, and display the OMC’s designated colour scheme, brand and logo. Ogra observed that some OMCs were not fully complying with branding requirements, including colour schemes and logos, for tank lorries owned or contracted by them, which violates the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for physical reporting.

All OMCs are now strictly directed to ensure that their tank lorries are clearly distinguishable by the prescribed colour scheme, brand, and logo. Also, each OMC must ensure that its tank lorries are used exclusively for its own operations, as stipulated in field SOPs. In cases of non-compliance, Ogra may disallow the transportation claims of the OMC. However, Ogra noted that multinational OMCs facing security concerns may adopt a specific colour or coding scheme, provided it is communicated to the regulatory authority.

The circular also highlighted that the list of tank lorries owned or contracted by OMCs is available on the Ogra website. Host depots are advised to consult this list to confirm that tank lorries carrying an OMC’s products are indeed owned or contracted by that OMC.

In Pakistan, road transport accounts for 69 per cent of total oil movement, followed by pipelines at 29 per cent, with the remaining 2.0 per cent managed by railways. Currently, around 14,000-16,000 oil tankers, known as road bowsers, transport oil across the country, with capacities ranging from 10 to 30 metric tonnes (MT). In comparison, Pakistan Railways operates 5,400 tank wagons for fuel transport, but this capacity is constrained by infrastructure limitations and locomotive shortages.

The petroleum supply chain, for both refined and unrefined products, primarily depends on road tankers, trucks, railroads and pipelines. After refineries process crude oil, the refined products are delivered to storage facilities via pipelines, from where oil tankers transport them to fuel stations or ports for export.