Petroleum sales decline 2 percent in September

KARACHI: Due to subdued activities in the agriculture sector of Pakistan, the sale of petroleum oil products has dropped net 2 percent to 1.52 million tons in September 2020.

JS Research said citing data from Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) the overall sale of petroleum oil products stood at 1.55 million tons in the previous month of August.

Breakdown suggested the sale of petrol and diesel decreased by 8% each to 0.64 million tons and 0.47 million tons, respectively, in September compared to 0.70 million tons and 0.51 million tons in August, respectively.

The sale of furnace oil, which is mainly used to generate electricity by independent power producers (IPPs), grew 20% to 0.37 million tons in September compared to 0.31 million tons in the prior month of August.

The government switched- on some of the oil-fired power plants to meet the demand for power consumers after some of the gas-based plants faced a shortage of fuel due to a drop in the supply of gas from domestic fields.

The sale of petrol and diesel dropped, while furnace oil up also dropped compared to September year-on-year.

Overall, the first quarter (Jul- Sep) of FY21 saw strong volumetric sales of 4.74 million tons, reflecting an increase of 14% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, and 8% on a year-on-year basis.

Topline Research Deputy Head Shankar Talreja said the demand for petroleum products, mainly for diesel, has decreased due to near completion of harvesting season for summer crops in the country.

Shankar Talreja further said the agricultural activities slowed down after rainwater accumulation in the fields and urban flooding mainly in Sindh province.