Pakistan saw an 18% decrease in Furnace Oil (FO) demand which correspondingly dragged down Petroleum Oil Lubricants’ (POL) sales. From 17.37 Million Tons (MT) sold in the same period last year, it came down to 14.24 MT during the last eight months of 2018.
POL saw a 17.8% decline during the month of August 2018, as compared to its previous months’ sales. Oil Marketing Companies’ (OMC) sales stood at 1.35 million MT during August 2018, as against 1.64 million MT sold in the July 2018.
According to an analyst at Shajar Research, lower volumes during the month can be attributed to Eid/Hajj and Independence Day Holidays during the month.
On month-on-month (MoM) basis shows a decline in sales too. FO sales declined by 45.7% from 350,721 MT sold in July 2018 to 190,579MT in August 2018, which is becoming a major concern for Oil Marketing companies (OMCs) and Refineries.
Surprisingly, Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) led the market sales by recording sales of 181,120 MT of petroleum products during August, which was 6.5 percent higher than the 170,140MT sold in the earlier month.
Industry Motor Spirit (MS) sales dropped by 1.3% MoM to 606,061 tons for August 2018 against 613,962 tons in July. High Speed Diesel (HSD) Sales were down by 19.8% MoM from 614,106 tons in July 2018 to 492,717 tons in August 2018.
APL’s sales in all three major products (HSD, MS, and FO) showed a MoM increase, with MS volumes growing by 0.7%MoM, HSD volumes growing by 9.1%MoM, and FO volumes growing by 10.6%MoM.
Hascol proved to be the laggard during the month, having sold 32.2% lower volumes in August compared to the earlier month, with demand for Hascol’s all three major petroleum products faltering on a MoM basis. HSD sales of Hascol were down 37.8% MoM, while MS and FO Sales were down by 24.6% MoM and 30.7% MoM, respectively.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO)’s sales slowed down by 25.9% MoM from 647,597MT in July 2018 to 479,770MT in August 2018, majorly driven by an 86% MoM slump in FO volumes from 145,737MT in July 2018 to 20,337MT in August 2018.
PSOs HSD volumes stood at 182,024MT in August 2018, compared to 228,315MT in the earlier month, showing a dip of 20.3%MoM. MS volumes were up 1.5%MoM from 226,583MT in July 2018 to 230,041MT in August 2018.
Published in Daily Times, September 4th 2018.
