Pakistan's petroleum sales surge 2% in February amid lower prices

Pakistan’s petroleum products' sales in February surged 2% to 1.14 million tons compared to the same month last year, according to a report issued by Arif Habib Limited.

Total sales for the first eight months of the current fiscal year amounted to 10.55 million tons, up 4% compared to the same period last year.

The improvement in sales is attributed to a resurgence in demand for motor spirit (petrol) amid lower petrol prices, curbs on smuggled petroleum from Iran, a jump in automobile sales, and higher demand for furnace oil-based power generation.

HSD sales experienced a 4% decline, settling at 0.43 million tons in February 2025, compared to 0.45 million tons in the same period last year. The decline in HSD offtake is due to overall low demand.

Meanwhile, petrol dispatches witnessed an uptick of 2%, reaching 0.56 million tons in February 2025. FO sales volumes climbed by 7%, clocking in at 0.05 million tons.

On a sequential basis, petroleum sales declined by 18% in February 2025, due to fewer days in the month, a fall in petroleum consumption amid higher prices of MS and HSD, and a reduction in reliance on FO-based power generation.

On a company-wise basis, the sales of PSO declined by 17% year-on-year, clocking in at 0.47 million tons in February 2025. Similarly, the offtake of Attock Petroleum also dwindled by 10% to 0.10 million tons.

The dispatches of SHELL declined by 6%, while HASCOL’s dispatches surged by 113%.

PSO’s market share in the first eight months of FY25 significantly declined by 5% to 45% compared to 50% in the same period last year.

The market share of APL decreased by 1%, arriving at 9% in the first eight months of FY25. On the other hand, the market share of SHELL remained the same.

HASCOL’s market share in the first eight months of FY25 declined to 9%.

The market share of Gas and Oil Pakistan Ltd (GO) increased significantly to 10% in the first eight months of FY25 compared to only 3% in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the market share of other OMCs witnessed a decline of 1%, arriving at 26% in the first eight months of FY25.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said that the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) collection in the first eight months of FY25 stands at PKR 753 billion ($2.7 billion). To recall, the federal government has set a PDL target of PKR 1,281 billion (monthly average of PKR 107 billion) for FY25.