Increase in Smuggling Rate of Iranian Fuel to Pakistan

The Federation of Petroleum Traders in Pakistan announced today, Tuesday, that some traders reported an increase in the rate of smuggling Iranian fuel into Pakistan, stating that up to 35% of the diesel sold in the country arrived illegally from Iran. In a statement to "Reuters," the federation noted that "fuel smuggling in the past was confined to the Balochistan region of Pakistan, but it has now spread to other parts of the country." The Pakistani Ministry of Energy requested in April that security forces take strict action to combat fuel smuggling from Iran, indicating that, according to the relevant oil and gas regulatory authority, the smuggling of about 4,000 tons of fuel daily into Pakistan results in an overall revenue loss of approximately 10.2 billion rupees per month.