Oil sales plunge by 40pc in May amid economic slowdown

KARACHI: The month of May witnessed a staggering 40 percent decline in oil sales compared to the same period last year, as the country grapples with an economic slowdown and a surge in the volume of Iranian smuggled petroleum products flooding the market, industry data showed on Thursday. According to sales figures of oil marketing companies, the sale of petroleum products dropped to 1.30 million tons in the month of May compared to 2.17 million tons in the month of May last year. The sale of petroleum products, however, rose by 11 percent compared to the month of April when sales totaled 1.17 million tons.

During the first eleven months of the current financial year, the total sales stood at 15.26 million tons, down by 26 percent compared to 20.62 million tons in the same period of last financial year. According to the data, the sale of petrol dropped by 24 percent in May compared to the same month of last year. It was up 4 percent compared to April of this year. During the first eleven months, the sale of petrol was down by 18 percent to 6.78 million tons compared to 8.24 million tons in the corresponding months of last fiscal.

The sale of high speed diesel (HSD) was down by 36 percent in May 2023 compared to the same month of last year. It was up by 18 percent compared to April of this year. During the July-May period of this fiscal, the sale of HSD was down by 29 percent to 5.83 million tons compared to 8.15 million tons in the same period of last financial year. Furnace oil sale nosedived 80 percent in the month of May compared to the same month of last fiscal. It was up by 26 percent compared to April of this year. Accumulatively, its sale went down by 45 percent to 1.96 million tons in the first eleven months of this fiscal compared to 3.57 million tons of last fiscal.

All the leading oil marketing companies (OMCs) witnessed a decrease in their sale of petroleum products. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) recorded a 28 percent decline in its sale of petroleum products in the first eleven months of this fiscal. It also registered a 51 percent decrease in the month of May compared to May of last fiscal.

The sales of Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) also went down by 24 percent in the first eleven months and were down by 42 percent in the month of May of this fiscal compared to the same month of last year. Shell Pakistan registered a 27 percent decline in the first eleven months and 45 percent in the month of May of this fiscal.