Petroleum products register increase in production

Strong growth in manufacturing sector drives up petroleum production.

ISLAMABAD:

Production of petroleum products increased by 11.48% during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of last year according to the latest data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The products that contributed most in the positive growth of petroleum production during the eight months included Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), production which increased by 24.43%. Other petroleum products that witnessed increase in production included kerosene oil, production of which increased by 8.8% and motor spirits, production of which increased by 19.42%. Similarly, the production of high speed diesel and furnace oil increased by 12.91% and 19% respectively.

Petroleum products that witnessed negative growth in production included jet fuel oil and diesel oil, production of which decreased by 2.67% and 6.81% respectively. Similarly, the production of lubricating oil decreased by 9.4%, that of jute batching oil by 6.69% and Solvent Naptha by 7.8%.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the production of overall petroleum products increased by 11.53% in February 2013 as compared to the corresponding month of 2012. The products that witnessed an increase in production during the month under review included jet fuel oil, output of which increased by 6.15% and kerosene oil, production of which grew by 18.88%. Production of motor spirit increased by 23.49%, that of high speed diesel by 14.89%, diesel oil by 3.91% and furnace oil by 19.01%.

The products that witnessed negative growth in production included lubricating oil, production of which decreased by 10.91% and jute batching oil which witnessed a 10.49% decrease in production while the production of Solvant Naptha decreased by 13.43% and LPG by 2.67%.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) registered positive growth of 2.93% during the first eight months of the current fiscal year over the corresponding period of the last financial year. On year-on-year basis, the LSM grew by 3.84% during the month of February 2013 when compared to the same month of last year. The Quantum Index Numbers (QIN) of LSM stood at 111.33 points during July-February (2012-13) against 114.59 points during July-February (2011-12). The Provisional Quantum Index Numbers of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (QIM) has been computed in PBS on the basis of latest production data of 112 items received from sources, including Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production and Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBOS).

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2013.

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