Pakistan Plans Strategic Oil Buffer to Tackle Supply Risks

Pakistan has moved to strengthen its energy security by setting up a high-level committee to design and operationalize strategic petroleum reserves, as the government looks to shield the economy from global oil price shocks and supply disruptions.

The committee has been asked to submit its recommendations and an implementation roadmap by May 8, 2026, according to an official notification issued by the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division after a meeting chaired by the federal petroleum minister.

The newly formed Committee on Strategic Petroleum Reserves brings together senior officials from the government, security institutions, regulators, state-owned energy companies and the private sector to develop a national framework for emergency oil storage and fuel management.

It will be headed by the special secretary of the Petroleum Division and includes representatives from the National Crisis Management Cell, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, Joint Staff Headquarters, Directorate General Logistics, Pakistan State Oil, Inter-State Gas Systems, and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. Private-sector representatives, including HUBCO, as well as stakeholders from refineries and storage operators, may also be brought into the process.

According to the notification, the committee has been tasked with preparing recommendations on how to operationalize strategic petroleum reserves, make better use of existing storage infrastructure and map all available oil storage facilities across the country.

It will also review financing options and investment needs for expanding strategic reserves to meet Pakistan’s longer-term energy security requirements.

Officials said the work would draw on earlier technical studies, including reports by Matt MacDonald and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, which identified shortcomings in the country’s fuel storage capacity and called for a more structured emergency reserve system.