close
Friday March 29, 2024

PSO to get first cargo of 55,000 tons environment-friendly 92 Ron in October

By Mehtab Haider
October 11, 2016

ISLAMABAD: State-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO) will receive 55,000 tons cargo of environment-friendly 92 Ron motor gasoline this month, the first since the government decided to discontinue import of 87 Ron petrol, officials said on Monday.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in August 2016 allowed the import of 92 Ron -- Research Octane Number - petrol to check environmental hazards. Previously, the country was importing 87 Ron premium, mostly abandoned by environment sensitive nations. 

The PSO has booked three cargoes -- 55,000 tones each -- at $2.46/barrel from state-owned Oman Trading International Ltd (OTI).

“The OTI is going to supply first ever 92 Ron motor gasoline cargo into Pakistan,” Raja Haseeb Iqbal, Pakistan manager at the Omani firm told The News. “The vessel is expected to reach Karachi around October 25 to 27, 2016.” 

The PSO floated a tender to import 92 Ron motor gasoline on 27 September. Thirteen parties participated in the tendering process; of which, 12 companies were qualified for commercial bids. 

OTI offered the cheapest price among all the participants and therefore was awarded the shipment order.  Iqbal said 92 Ron will improve the efficiency and engine life of vehicles.  He said the government’s decision was in the interest of the country and consumers.

In September, the ministry of petroleum decided to ban the 87 Ron premiums in the country. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are already using 92 Ron petrol.

Meanwhile, PSO, the country’s largest oil marketing company, registered sales growth of 10 percent in September in contrast to the industry growth of 14 percent, driven by lower high speed diesel sales.

Brokerage Topline Securities, in a report said the state-run firm's furnace oil sales rose 23 percent to 638,000 tons in September.

The report said the sale of motor gasoline increased 16 percent year-on-year (YoY) and six percent month-on-month to 577,000 tons in September.  

Sales of high speed diesel increased nine percent YoY and decreased two percent MoM to 627,000 tons in the month.

“We attribute this improvement to improving macros (economic indicators), rising car sales and lower oil prices,” said Umair Naseer, an analyst at the brokerage.

The report said total oil sales were up 14 percent YoY to 2.1 million tons, driven by growth in furnace oil (FO) and motor gasoline sales.

The sales slightly remained lower than the market expectations of 2.3 million tons.

Oil sales were up 19 percent to 6.5 million tons during the first quarter (July-Sept) of 2016/17 mainly due to increased FO demand. 

“In FY17, we anticipate oil sales to grow by 12 percent to 26.2 million tons,” Naseer said.     

FO sales remained strong during September, growing 18 percent YoY to 849,000 tons. Increased demand from power generation plants led to the growth in FO sales.

Hascol Petroleum and Attock Petroleum outperformed the market, reporting growth of 87 percent and 16 percent, respectively.