KARACHI: Petroleum sales in Pakistan shrank by 19 percent in first seven month of the current financial year on a slowdown in economic activities and depressed demand of the products.
The sale of petroleum products in 7MFY23 stood at 10.47 million tonnes, compared to 12.91 million tonnes recorded in the same months last year, data showed on Wednesday.
During the period concerned the sale of petrol decreased by 15 percent to 4.48 million tonnes, compared to 5.26 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
Meanwhile, the sale of high speed diesel (HSD) also showed a negative growth of 23 percent to 3.95 million tonnes, compared to 5.10 million tonnes in the corresponding period of FY22.
Furnace oil sales plunged 27 percent to 1.59 million tonnes in the period under review, compared to 2.16 million tonnes in the same period of the last fiscal. In January 2023, the sale of petroleum products went down by almost 20 percent, compared to the same month of the last financial year. The total sale in the month was recorded at 1.44 million tonnes, compared to 1.80 million tonnes of the same month in the previous fiscal. However on month-on-month basis, the sale of products was up by 8 percent, compared to the month of December, 2022.
The sale of was down by 13 percent to 0.65 million tonnes in January 2023, compared to 0.74 million tonnes in January 2022.
The sale of HSD decreased by 21 percent to 0.58 million tonnes in January of the current fiscal, compared to 0.74 million tonnes in the month of January last year. The sale of FO also plunged massively 45 percent to 0.14 percent, compared to 0.26 million tonnes in January last year.
Data showed that sale of petroleum products by leading oil marketing companies such as PSO, APL, and Shell fell by 17 percent, 20 percnet, and 21 percent respectively in the first seven months of the current fiscal, compared to same period last year.