Oil refinery output drops nine per cent

Total oil refinery production in the country reduces by 9% in first seven months of the fiscal year 2011.

KARACHI: Total oil refinery production in the country has reduced by nine per cent in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2011 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year due to growing circular debt and refinery shutdowns amid maintenance and operational issues, according to Topline Securities.

Capacity utilisation stood at 67 per cent, making production fall nine per cent to 4.3 million tons, says a research note e-mailed to The Express Tribune.

Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) and National Refinery Limited (NRL) were the only two refineries that depicted improvement in their output. During the period, ARL and NRL throughput increased by a significant 20 per cent (year-on-year) and 38 per cent (year-on-year), respectively, said Topline Securities analyst, Nauman Khan.

On the other hand, Pak-Arab Refinery Company (Parco) – the country’s largest refinery – recorded a decline in output on account of a month long shutdown caused by devastating floods, whereas due to revamping and circular debt issues, BYCO production remained low at 227,000 tons.

Despite the reduced output, Parco continues to lead the pack with market share of 34 per cent, followed by NRL, ARL and PRL at 22 per cent, 20 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Byco’s market share stood at only 5.2 per cent for the period under review.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.