Business

Pakistan moves ahead: Contracts awarded, RON 92 petrol to be made available from Nov

Oman-based firm awarded first contract, first consignment will see arrival of 55,000 tons

Our Correspondent October 10, 2016

Oman-based firm awarded first contract, first consignment will see arrival of 55,000 tons. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: After reports that the standard petrol used by a majority of the country is of low grade and the only other country to use it is Somalia, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has awarded contracts to import higher quality fuel from November 2016.

A PSO spokesperson confirmed that the shipments of Research Octane Number (RON) 92 would reach Pakistan by the end of this month and would be marketed and made available to the public from November.

Abandoned by world, low-grade petrol runs Pakistan

Quality of petrol is measured in the amount of octane, normally indexed as the RON. In simple terms, the higher the octane number, the higher the performance of gasoline engines. Use of low-octane petrol leads to engine knocking.

The price difference between RON 87, which is currently sold in the country, and RON 92 petrol comes to about Rs2.74 per litre. However, the actual import cost and the price difference may vary from time to time according to the fluctuations in international oil prices.

The present government had decided to replace RON 87 with RON 92 earlier and moved ahead on its plan by awarding three contracts out of which the first consignment to bring 55,000 tons would reach the country by the end of October.

While fuel pumps across Pakistan continue to sell RON 87 petrol as the standard, the world moved ahead years ago with almost all countries now running at least on RON 92 petrol.

Modern automobiles, especially those with super-charged engines, are designed to operate on RON 92 or even higher rated gasoline. The high octane blending content (HOBC) sold in Pakistan is RON 97.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in its meeting held on August 16, 2016 under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had allowed the introduction of RON 92 petrol in order to make the environment cleaner and more hygienic.

Attock Refinery may continue to produce low-grade petrol

Pakistan’s neighboring countries including Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are already using minimum RON 92 petrol.

The Oman Trading International ltd (OTI) is going to supply the first ever RON 92 motor gasoline cargo to Pakistan. The vessel is expected to reach Karachi between October 25 to 27, 2016.

After ECC’s decision, the PSO floated a tender to import RON 92 gasoline to the country on September 27, 2016. Thirteen parties participated in the tendering process out of which twelve companies passed the technical bid and qualified for commercial bids.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (15)

Ahmer | 7 years ago | Reply @Furkan Awan Total gives RON 90 and not RON 92. You should look up at their website.

cuban | 7 years ago | Reply Better engine performance, better gas mileage, better for environment. I still don't understand why Pakistan took so long to make a move that everyone except Somalia made decades ago.

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Hammad | 7 years ago | Reply But what about Pakistani refinaries with old technology which will keep producing RON 87 and we will keep filling our tanks with that. It looks like only an eye wash or that the RON92 will be available only rarely like HOBC

Hammad | 7 years ago | Reply But what about Pakistani refinaries with old technology which will keep producing RON 87 and we will keep filling our tanks with that. This looks like only an eye wash or that the RON92 will be available only rarely like HOBC

Ch. Allah Daad | 7 years ago | Reply This is a daylight bank robbery. They will sell RON 87 at RON 92 price, whereas standard RON 87 is the fuel recommended for most of the compact cars. Use the fuel which is recommended in vehicle's handbook. I have three different vehicles and I use different type of fuels for each of them. Fuel providers and government's job is to provide different types of fuel as per international standards. Don't tell me which fuel I should use and don't lecture me which country uses which. If that particular country is fooling its citizens, those citizens should keep that stupidity to themselves.

Furkan Awan | 7 years ago | Reply RON 92 is already available at TOTAL petrol stations as Super Premium @ 64 rs and believe me its awesome you will surely love the drive with it whereas PSO are bunch of thieves and nothing i would personally suggest you all to boycott PSO as their standards are down the drain and you all might have seen the viral videos in which PSO pump stations are involved in various frauds.

Adnan | 7 years ago | Reply @zack: I have seen RON 95 and 97 only in Malaysia in my last 6 six years of stay (RON 100 is EXTREMELY rare). I agree that RON 92 is also obsolete and we should move to RON 95 at least but saying that "In Malaysia we use Ron 100" is laughable and shows either ignorance or unnecessary self-conceit. Pakistan is doing good job moving to RON92 but better to move to 95.

M.Saeed | 7 years ago | Reply For a very long time, Pakistan was using standard, premium and aviation petrols with 75, 90 and 100 octane specifications. Standard 75 octane was used for 2 stroke engines that mix engine oil with petrol and was generally was used by motor-rickshaws. For any high performance car, people used to mix premium with a specified percentage of aviation petrol, to get the best performance of their high quality vehicles.

Lolz | 7 years ago | Reply How would a consumer ensure if still getting RON 87 or RON 92? It seems this is just another trick to increase fuel prices.

Captain D | 7 years ago | Reply Good initiative by the government. It seems Imran Khan wants to destabilize the government only so that it cannot perform. On my last trip to Pakistan in early 2016 I stayed in Lahore and Pindi and people were generally happy with the governments performance. Asked will they vote for PMLn many new voters were sold on it. Good luck PMln. Keep up the good work and 2018 election is yours.

Zaka | 7 years ago | Reply @zack: Your lies exposed. Shame on you. Thankyou Nawaz Sharif. After Metrobus, metro trains, motorway, fiber optic cable, 3G/4G, multiple Solar, Wind, Hydro and Coal power plants which have and will completely settle loadshedding LNG terminals and LNG supply which has reduced gas shortage, PM health scheme that provide free health coverage to the most deserving, Excellent education initiative to increase school enrollment and now better fuel. To all the critics of NS, why no other government before did all this for Pakistan? Long live Pakistan and NS its PM.

Mehran | 7 years ago | Reply @Khan: Correct. I have lived in Malaysia and I used RON95 not any RON92. I think they should directly move to RON95 instead waiting for another decade

zack | 7 years ago | Reply @Khan: What I mean is Malaysia is moving toward Ron100 and Ron 92 was discarded in year 92.

Khan | 7 years ago | Reply @zack: The standard quality in Malaysia is RON95, HOBC is RON97. RON100 is premium quality fuel that is available at selected pumps.

zack | 7 years ago | Reply In Malaysia we use Ron 100 Ron 92 was discarded in year 1992 onwards. and Ron100 is almost same cost as of Ron92 in Pakistan.Government is really cheating the poor consumers.

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