KARACHI: The country’s oil sales plunged by 27 per cent to 12.166 million tonnes in 8MFY19 on account of 60pc fall in sales of furnace oil (FO) to 1.986m tonnes.

High speed diesel (HSD) sales declined 20pc to 4.830m tonnes during this period while petrol sales remained almost unchanged at 4.878m tonnes.

According to Topline Securities, overall oil sales in February 2019 edged lower by two per cent year-on-year to 1.428m tonnes, dragged by a 31pc dip in FO to 171,000 tonnes owing to its lower consumption in power generation.

Petrol sales posted 10-month high growth of 16pc at 614,000 tonnes on the expectation of rise in petrol prices. On the other hand, diesel sales decreased by a marginal 1pc to 584,000 tonnes amidst its sales to security forces due to the recent armed conflict between India and Pakistan, Analyst Shankar Talreja said.

According to Shajar Capital, furnace oil sales plummeted owing to increase in consumption of cheaper re-liquefied natural gas by power plants.

HSD and FO oil sales plunged due to multiple reasons including a change in government’s policy on power generation and slower economic activity overall.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2019