Petrol Sales Last Month Highest Ever Recorded In Pakistan
Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 9:52:01 by modousarr
Petrol consumption in Pakistan hit a record high of 550,000 tonnes in the single month of March due to several factors, including low prices, continuous sale of new motorcycles and cars and steady economic growth, according to industry officials.
The recent one-month record was in October last year with 511,000 tonnes recorded. Marketing companies seem to be retaining sufficient stocks with 15-day requirements.
A senior executive believes that increase in sales should be looked at in a positive limelight.
Aftab Husain, CEO of Pakistan Refinery Limited claimed that “Growth in demand for petrol remains the same at between 10% and 15%. What happened in March was that retail outlets bought unusually more in anticipation of price increase.”
The vast growth in petrol consumption over the recent years has created a difficult obligation on marketing companies to ensure that fuel supply is not interrupted as most of it is imported.
The lack of alternative auto fuel such as compressed natural gas (CNG) is the major reason for the increase in petrol sales.
“LNG (liquified natural gas) is now imported regularly. So there could be some impact but two-wheelers don’t have a choice and that is from where a lot of growth comes,” said Husain.
Since 2009, Pakistan has been a net importer of petrol, before which it was responsible for its own fuel supply by local refineries. However, of recent, 60% of demand is acquired by imports. This has posed as a serious issue for the country.
Early last year, the outrageous demand for fuel after the government cut fuel prices led to drastic shortages in the country and occasioned a political dilemma for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government. According to the people in the industry, the government was eager to suspend senior officials of the state-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which is the largest marketing company in the country instead of dealing with the shortage of storage spaces.
However, since that incident, collaboration between stakeholders has continued in order to avoid a repetition of such an episode. Pakistan crude oil refiners have also increased their petrol output.
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