Pakistan sees 4% rise in oil consumption

Pakistan's oil consumption has increased by 4% in the first six months of the current fiscal year, driven by lower petroleum product prices and stricter government controls on smuggling.

The petroleum product sales in the first half of the current fiscal year rose to eight million metric tons compared to 7.68 million metric tons of the same month last year, according to the data compiled by Oil Companies Advisory Council.

The sales of petrol and diesel saw significant gains, with petrol rising 5% to 3.75 million metric tons and diesel consumption increasing 10% to 3.46 million metric tons.

Lower prices compared to the same period last year contributed to the surge in sales. Another reason for the improvement in sales has been government strict control over smuggled goods arriving from Iran. Since the past two years, the arrival of smuggled goods from Iran has dented domestic sales, hurting the profits of the refineries and other oil marketing companies.

However, strict vigilance from the government has helped improve the sales of domestic products.

In contrast, furnace oil sales volumes plummeted by 48% in the six months ended December 31, due to lower demand for furnace oil-fired power generation plants.

On a month-on-month basis, petroleum sales dwindled by 19% in December, owing to reduced mobility due to severe winter weather and higher diesel demand in November for the Rabi season.