ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s oil import bill showed minimal growth, while petroleum products exports surged during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, the oil import bill experienced an uptick of 1.2 per cent to $10.71 billion in 8MFY25 from $10.58bn in the corresponding period last year.
In stark contrast, exports of petroleum products witnessed a surge of 96 per cent to $358.15 million during 8MFY25 from $183.33m a year ago.
According to the PBS data, higher crude oil imports prompted local refineries to produce more petroleum products than anticipated.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the increase in local production of petroleum products in the past few months and its exports from the country is likely to boost economic growth in the current fiscal year.
Petroleum exports almost double in 8MFY25
Product-wise data showed that crude oil imports rose 6.51pc in July-February from a year ago. However, petroleum crude witnessed a 20.29pc increase to 6.58 million tonnes from 5.47m tonnes last year.
However, the value of petroleum products imports dipped by 3.87pc from a year ago. In contrast, a 9.49pc increase was recorded in quantity imported, bringing the total up to 6.95m tonnes from 6.35m tonnes.
On the other hand, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports decreased 6.11pc while the import of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) surged 45.49pc during the period under review.
The rise in crude oil imports indicates high transportation and other economic activities nationwide. This also suggests higher capacity utilisation of local oil refineries compared to last year, which increased their profitability. The surging crude oil imports also translated into higher petroleum product production by local refineries.
Petroleum production
The PBS data showed that the output of all 11 petroleum products was higher by 2.47pc over last year.
Further analysis showed that the local production of high-speed diesel primarily used in the transport sector and agriculture — was up 6.21pc. However, petroleum production post a paltry negative growth of 0.76pc during the months under review.
The furnace oil production was up by almost 19.74pc in January.
Consequently, exports of petroleum products were up by 95.36pc on a year-on-year basis in 8MFY25 to $ 358.15m. The details show that growth was recorded in almost all petroleum products, including petroleum crude.
The export of petroleum crude surged to 40,552 tonnes in 8MFY25 against no exports over the corresponding period of last year. Similarly, the exports of petroleum products, excluding top naphtha, saw a growth of 72.34pc to 651,662 tonnes in 8MFY25 against 378,135 tonnes last year. The export of petroleum top naphtha also surged 113.77pc to 44,571 tonnes year-on-year.
Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025
