Pakistan’s fuel sales drop 10% in November as demand weakens

Sales of petroleum products in Pakistan fell 10% in November year-on-year as demand for high-speed diesel, petrol and furnace oil continued to slow, according to industry released on Monday.

Overall fuel sales slipped 5% from October, extending a months-long slowdown in consumption. Over the first five months of the current fiscal year, total petroleum sales were broadly unchanged compared with the same period last year.

High-speed diesel sales dropped 13% in November to 683,000 metric tons, down from 788,000 metric tons a year earlier. Still, sales for the July-November period rose 4% to 3 million metric tons.

Petrol sales fell 9% year over year in November to 608,000 metric tons, compared with 688,000 metric tons in the same month of 2024. For the five-month period, petrol sales inched up 2% to 3.2 million metric tons.

Furnace oil posted the steepest decline, plunging 32% in November and tumbling 67% over July-November compared with the previous year, reflecting lower use in power generation.

Among major oil marketing companies, Pakistan State Oil recorded a 19% decline in November sales, with all key products posting drops. PSO’s total sales for the July-November span were down 7%. Attock Petroleum Ltd. (APL) reported a 17% fall in monthly sales and a 4% decline over the five-month period.

Hascol Petroleum saw sales slip 2% in November, while Wafi and Cnergy posted gains of 8% and 9%, respectively.

PSO remained the market leader in November with a 45.4% share of total petroleum sales. Gas & Oil Pakistan followed with 10.7%, while Wafi, APL and Hascol held 7.9%, 7.7% and 2.4%, respectively.