Petrol sales soar to record high in July

Pakistan has once again created history, as oil marketing companies sold a record high 0.81 million tons of petrol in July mainly due to jump in the number of vehicles on the road in the wake of availability of banks’ financing for owning a car at low interest rates.

“Highest ever MoGas (petrol) sales of 0.81 million tons were recorded during July 2021, up by 12.5% compared to 0.72 million in the same month last year,” Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said in a brief comment on Monday. Petrol is mostly used in cars and tractors, two and three-wheelers motorbikes and rickshaws and small power generators in use at households.

“Rebound in overall economic activities had a positive impact on transportation activities, which in turn led to increase in demand for POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) products,” Pakistan’s central bank said in its latest quarterly report on the state of Pakistan’s economy for Jan-Mar 2021 published recently.

“Surge in automobile sales, especially in the wake of low-interest rates, further facilitated transportation activities in the country.”

A Japanese automobile maker in Pakistan reported on Monday to sell record high number of vehicles at 6,775 in a month in July since its inception in 1993 in the country. Total car sales surged 90% to 238,000 units in the full previous fiscal year 2021. Recent reports suggest the growth in sales was mostly seen in the category in and over 1,000cc engines and jeeps (Sport Utility Vehicles/SUVs). Moreover, the auto financing also stood to record high level at present. The demand for petrol is mostly met through imports in the country due to low production of crude at local fields and low capacity at local refineries to produce petrol including high grade Euro-5 at present.

Read More: Petrol price likely to be hiked by Rs4.20 per litre

The central bank has also reported a surge in production of oil and gas at fields during the Covid-19 pandemic, as demand for hydrocarbons rose following the government lifted ban on use of expensive furnace oil for producing power in the backdrop of shortfall of gas in the country.

Sale of all the petroleum products, including diesel and furnace oil, grew 10% to 1.94 million tons in July compared to 1.66 million tons in the same month last year, according to the data compiled by AHL. Sale of furnace oil increased 54% to 0.37 million tons in the month under review compared to 0.24 million tons in the corresponding month of last year. The sale of diesel improved 7% to 0.72 million tons in the month of July 2021 compared to 0.68 million tons in the same month of last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2021.

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