WEB DESK, July 2(ABC): With the continuous rise in the prices of petroleum products, the country has witnessed a decline in the consumption of fuel during the last month, reported.
In a bid to strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the incumbent government has removed fuel subsidies and jacked up the fuel prices for a third time in 36 days.
The coalition government had first raised the petrol price by Rs30 on May 26, followed by another increase of Rs30 on June 2. On June 15, it hiked the price by another Rs24 and a day earlier it announced a Rs15 raise.
With the continuous rise in prices, the country has witnessed an 11% decline collectively in the consumption of petroleum products in one month.
There was a sharp decline of 16% in consumption of diesel, similarly, a 12% decline in the consumption of kerosene oil and a 2% decrease in petrol consumption.
According to the data released by Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) on Friday, the country’s oil sales jumped 11 percent to 22.5 million tonnes in fiscal year 2021-22, reported.
However, during the month of June 2022, the sales of petroleum products remained stagnant compared to 1.9 million tonnes in the same month last year.
As per the oil industry, the high prices of diesel and petrol compelled the people to slash their fuel costs by reducing their trips within town drastically, compared to previous months. It is expected that after the latest revision of petrol prices at the end of June, fuel sales would drop further.
The sale of high speed diesel (HSD) reflected an eight percent decline to 713,000 tonnes in June 2022, compared to the same month last year when 776,000 tonnes of HSD was sold.
The sale of petrol in June slumped 10% to 702,000 tonnes from 776,000 tonnes in the same month of the previous year.
The sale of diesel and petrol in the month of June also dropped by 16% percent and 12% compared to May this year, respectively.
Furnace oil, however, registered a massive increase of 33% in the month of June against the same month last year on the back of higher demand for power generation as a gas shortage has forced the government to switch to the commodity.
The company-wise sale of petroleum products showed that Pakistan State Oil registered 29% in the last fiscal, followed by Attock Petroleum Limited and Shell Pakistan that posted 22% and 14% growth respectively, whereas Hascol’s sale plunged by 66% in FY2022.