Petroleum sales halve in April as inflation bites

Pakistan’s overall oil sales plunged 47 per cent year-over-year to 1.171 million tonnes in April, while the total sales shrank by 24pc to 13.970m tonnes in the July-April period of FY23. However, oil sales rose 6pc month-on-month in April. Furnace oil (FO) consumption in April 2023 was 72,000 tonnes compared to 461,000 tonnes in April 2022, while sales fell 16pc on MoM. The July-April FY23 FO sales clocked in at 1.866m tonnes, 40pc down from the same period last fiscal year. A 50pc decline was witnessed in diesel sales to 461,000 tonnes in April 2023 from 919,000 tonnes in April 2022, while a 28pc drop was recorded in 10MFY23 to 5.283m tonnes. However, there was an increase of 16pc MoM sales. Petrol sales posted a drop of 25pc YoY in April 2023 to 580,000 tonnes, while it recovered by 4pc MoM. Total petrol sales in 10MFY23 declined by 17pc to 6.173m tonnes. An analyst at Top Line Research said April 2023 YoY fall in sales was mainly driven by a massive drop in FO and diesel sales.