KARACHI: Pakistan’s over­all oil sales posted growth of 22 per cent in July-August 2021 to 3.9 million tonnes from 1.97m tonnes during the same period last year.

The sales of furnace oil registered the highest in­­crease of 63pc in August to 508,000 tonnes and 59pc in July-August to 878,000 tonnes led by rising prices of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the international market.

Due to shortage of LNG in the international market furnace oil was an alternative fuel for furnace oil, said Umair Naseer at Top Line Securities.

He said the sales of High Speed Diesel (HSD) surged by 32pc in August to 670,000 tonnes from 508,000 tonnes of the same month of last year, while 2MFY22 sales swelled by 18pc to 1.390m tonnes.

Petrol sales rose by 6pc to 737,000 tonnes in August from 697,000 tonnes of the same month of last year, while sales in July-August 2021 went up by 10pc to 1.549m tonnes.

Mr Naseer attributed the jump in petrol and HSD sales to strong automobile sales and the hike in overall oil sales to economic recovery as last year’s sales were mainly impacted by lockdowns and economic slowdown.

Company wise data shows that the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) and Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) have gained in terms of their market share.

The PSO posted a growth of 36pc year on year as its oil sales clocked in at 1.0m tonnes. Its furnace oil sales jumped by 80pc as its market share in this segment rose to 66pc in August this year versus 60pc in August 2020.

APL’s oil sales increased by 56pc year on year to 0.2m tonnes whereas, SPL’s sales were up by 28pc to 0.1m tonnes.

Hascol witnessed a decline of 76pc in August 2021 as it continued to lose its market share to just 1pc from 10pc three years ago.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2021