Oil marketing companies (OMCs) and local refineries have one month left to meet the deadline given by the Petroleum Division to bring down the contents level of MMT in gasoline. After the deadline, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) may take action against the offending companies. "On the directives of the Petroleum Division, the Authority may take action against the OMCs that fail to introduce the new specification of fuel," an official of Petroleum Division told Business Recorder.
The Petroleum Division directed OGRA, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) and Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) that metal content (manganese) in 90, 92, 95, 97 RON local/imported petrol be 40mg (max) per litre until Oct 30, 2018 while from Nov 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019 the level of manganese content should be further brought down to 24mg per litre (maximum).
On May 24, 2018 Petroleum Division specified various limits of metal contents level (MMT) in the prevalent specifications of 90/92/95/97 RON petrol (imported and locally produced) after consultation with stakeholders.
Honda Atlas Pakistan (HAP) in August last year had raised up a serious issue of high level of manganese contents in petrol with OGRA which was later supported by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (Pama) though other manufacturers such as Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMCL) and Indus Motor Company (IMC) did not complain about low quality of fuel.
Honda Atlas pointed out that high manganese content in upgraded 92 RON petrol was causing blocking or choking of catalytic converter and engine knocking due to low octane quality besides causing adverse impact on human health. HAP had suspended assembly of Honda Civic Turbo VTEC over low quality of petrol.
Spokesman Shell Pakistan Limited, Habib Haider this scribe that the level of metal contents in the available fuel is very high. "We have been working with the government to meet the April 2019 deadline to bring the level of MMT in 92 Ron to 20 milligrams," he said.
However, he claimed that Shell V-Power is free of MMT (upto 4 milligram) which is also recognized by the complainant Honda Car Manufacturer and now it is using V-Power petrol at the facility in Lahore. He further said that some refineries were requesting the government for an extension in the deadline as they are unable to produce the high quality fuel in such a short period.
The government had decided in November 2016 to upgrade the quality of motor gasoline with the introduction of three grades - Research Octane Number (RON) 92, 95 and 97 - by replacing RON 87. And, at the same time, domestic refineries were also asked to produce superior motor gasoline (petrol). Consequently, the refineries and suppliers to Pakistan started adding a high dosage of MMT to motor gasoline to meet the revised specifications and save cost as production of RON 92 gasoline through other processes would prove expensive. United States, European countries, African nations and some Asian countries have controlled the use of manganese additive in gasoline. In India, the use of MMT is at zero concentration since 2004. In China where emission standards are not that strict maximum of 6mg is being regulated since 2008 in Beijing while a maximum of 16mg per litre is available in the rest of China.