KARACHI, Jan 9: Demand of furnace oil is likely to remain high in the coming months as the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is seeking import of 570,000 tons of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) through international tender for a delivery period of Feb 13 to April this year.

The state-owned company will issue a global tender in a day or two requiring two firm cargos of 65,000 tons each of HSFO 180-125 cst for the delivery period of February 13-15 and February 25-27, respectively, while the same tender will also seek import of four cargoes of 55,000-65,000 tons each of HSFO 180-125 cst for March-April period, an official in the PSO said.

The PSO had earlier imported 12 cargoes of 55,000-65,000 tons each of HSFO 125-180 cst for December-February delivery from Middle East traders, Bakri and FAL oil.

Furnace oil sales are higher in the country due to increasing demand by the producers of thermal power generation in the on-going winter season.

However, an analyst at a brokerage house said declining trend in crude oil prices had also led to a fall in furnace oil prices in world markets. Crude oil prices have now plunged to $55 a barrel from $78 a barrel in July and furnace oil price is also related to movement of crude oil.

He said import bill of furnace oil, which was $6.6bn in 2005-2006, may remain under control despite rising volume of quantities owing to falling fuel prices. Much depends on crude oil prices in the world market but if crude oil rates remain stable in the coming months, import bill of furnace oil will not witness any major impact despite huge imports by Pakistan.

Total furnace oil sales recorded 5.12m tons in 2005-2006 as compared 4.55m tons in 2004-2005. In July-November 2006-2007, it remained 2.8m tons as compared to 1.6m tons in the same period of last fiscal.