Fuel from Shell, Total, PSO harms engines, Honda lodges complaint with OGRA

LAHORE - Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Ltd. filed a complaint with Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) alleging that the fuel provided by Shell, PSO and Total was affecting the engines of its vehicles.

According to Honda, the leading Pakistani oil companies were adding Manganese to their gasoline and that the additive appeared to be damaging engines in its vehicles.

The fuel regulator after having received the official complaint stated on Thursday that it will investigate the matter.

“We have received a complaint from Honda, and the relevant department will look into the issue,” said Imran Ghaznavi, a spokesman for the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

Manganese can be added to fuel to make it appear to be of a higher quality, but it can reduce fuel economy as well as potentially harm public health due to emissions.

As per Honda Pakistan, fuel suppliers have used manganese to increase Research Octane Number (RON) of low quality fuel to match it with RON 92 grade required by regulatory standards.

According to the estimates by automobile manufacturer, Manganese is considered dangerous at 24 mg/kg while tests showed that manganese found in fuel samples was 53 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).

On the other hand, rubbishing the allegations, spokesman for PSO said the company’s products fully adhere to official specifications laid out by the Ministry of Energy and all products were tested before being released to the market.

'Products below official standards are rejected and returned,' company spokesman Imran Rana said.

Head of Pakistan’s Oil Companies Advisory Council, Ilyas Fazil said on Thursday that he had not heard of manganese additives being a problem in the industry.

'Other refineries are producing 90 RON, which is slightly lower than 92...pure 92 RON, that is imported,' he asserted.

Although Honda official moved OGRA regarding the addition of Manganese, however, a senior industry official on the condition of anonymity disclosed that Toyota Pakistan had not experienced the same issues with their engines.

He continued that the company was concerned about high manganese levels in petroleum.

Previously, many users of Honda Civic 1.5 turbo reported that there vehicles produce annoying knocking sound from engine and the overall performance of engine is decreased as well.

However, Honda Pakistan suggested its user to always use High RON fuel to eliminate this issue.