The current administration has eliminated fuel subsidies and increased petrol prices for a third time in 36 days in an effort to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The coalition administration first increased the price of gasoline by Rs. 30 on May 26. The second rise of Rs. 30 was then implemented on June 2.
It announced an Rs15 price increase the day before and increased the price by another Rs24 on June 15. The nation has seen a nationwide reduction in the consumption of petroleum products of 11% in one month due to the ongoing price increase. Diesel usage dropped significantly by 16 percent; kerosene oil consumption dropped by 12 percent, and petrol consumption fell by 2 percent. The country’s oil sales increased by 11% to 22.5 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2021–2022, according to information provided by the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) on Friday, The News said. However, compared to 1.9 million tonnes in the same month last year, the sales of petroleum products in June 2022 stayed flat.
According to the oil business, consumers were forced to substantially cut their journeys within the city in order to cut their fuel costs due to the high rates of diesel and gasoline. It is anticipated that fuel sales would decline even further following the most recent adjustment to gasoline prices at the end of June. When compared to the same month in the previous year, when 776,000 tonnes of high-speed diesel (HSD) were sold, the sale of HSD in June 2022 showed an eight percent decline to 713,000 tonnes.
From 776,000 tonnes in June of the previous year to 702,000 tonnes in June of this year, gasoline sales fell 10%. When compared to May of this year, sales of diesel and gasoline fell by 16% and 14%, respectively, in the month of June.
However, increasing demand for power generation as a result of a gas scarcity prompted the government to convert to furnace oil due to the same month last year’s significant spike of 33 percent in furnace oil prices.
According to the company-level sales of petroleum products, Hascol’s sales decreased by 66 percent in FY2022, while Pakistan State Oil’s sales increased by 29 percent in the previous fiscal year, and Attock Petroleum Limited’s sales increased by 22 percent, and Shell Pakistan’s sales increased by 14 percent.
