Petrol, diesel sales decline on slower agri, transport activities

KARACHI: The sale of diesel and petrol declined by 27 percent and 38 percent respectively in the month of July 2022 on the back of long holidays of Eid as well as rains, which slowed down agriculture and transport activities in the country.

Overall sale of petroleum products also shrank during the month under review as it fell by 26 percent YoY, oil sale data showed on Monday. The sale of petroleum products plunged to 1.44 million tonnes in of July compared to 1.94 million tonnes of July last year and 1.94 million tonnes, recorded in June this year.

Petrol sales went down by 27 percent on year-on-year basis and 15 percent on month-on-month basis to 0.59 million tonnes, which was the lowest sale volume since April 2020. The sale of high speed diesel (HSD) decreased by 38 percent on YoY basis and fell by the same percentage on MoM basis.

Similarly, furnace oil sales also declined five percent YoY basis 23 percent MoM. Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited told The News that the long holidays of Eid and rains slowed down activities that resulted in lower consumption of petroleum products.

Sales of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) decreased 25 percent YoY and 27 percent MoM. Sales of Attock Petroleum Limited decreased 12 percent YoY and 25 percent MoM. Shell sales also went down 30 percent YoY and 34 percent on MoM basis.

The rainy month of July halted agricultural activities in almost the entire country, which slashed diesel demand that is mostly used as a fuel in the agriculture sector. “Harvesting season is over and now rains are lashing almost the whole country, putting breaks on agriculture activity,” a top executive of an oil firm told The News.

Low consumption has led to diesel stockpile of up to 660,000 tonnes in the country, which was sufficient for the next few days, keeping in view the current daily consumption of the fuel, the executive said.

About low sale of petrol, he said that this could mainly be attributed to the price hike, as people were not bringing out their vehicles on the roads to cut back on fuel expenses. Petrol stocks in the country stand at 650,000 tonnes, more than the required quantity for the time being.

On Sunday, the federal government decreased the price of petrol by Rs3.05 but increased diesel by Rs8.95 for the next fortnight. The Finance Division, in its notification, said that in view of the fluctuations in petroleum prices in the international market and exchange rate variation, the government has decided to revise the existing prices of petroleum products to pass on the impact to the consumers.