Pakistan’s oil import bill rose slightly to $10.71 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, driven by increased crude volumes despite lower petroleum product import values.
Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed a 1.2% year-on-year increase in oil imports during July–February FY2024–25, compared to $10.58 billion in the same period last year. The uptick was led by a 20.29% rise in crude oil volumes to 6.58 million tonnes, while the value of crude imports grew by 6.51%.
Petroleum product imports, however, declined by 3.87% in value, despite a 9.49% rise in quantity to 6.95 million tonnes. LNG imports dropped by 6.11%, whereas LPG imports surged by 45.49% during the review period.
The higher intake of crude oil prompted increased local production of refined petroleum products, leading to a 2.47% growth in overall petroleum output.Â
This included a 6.21% rise in high-speed diesel production and a 19.74% jump in furnace oil output in January alone, although total petroleum production registered a slight decline of 0.76%.
As a result of higher refinery activity, petroleum product exports rose sharply by 96% to $358.15 million in 8MFY25 from $183.33 million a year earlier.Â
Crude oil exports reached 40,552 tonnes, up from zero in the same period last year, while exports of petroleum products excluding top naphtha rose by 72.34% to 651,662 tonnes. Exports of top naphtha increased by 113.77% to 44,571 tonnes.
