The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has approved the import of 128, 000 tonnes of high-speed diesel (HSD) in January 2024, following a drop in demand mainly due to the end of harvesting season.
Ogra has allowed the import of 90,000 tonnes by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and 38,000 tonnes by the Gas & Oil (GO) marketing company for the month. The decision, made during a recent product review meeting (PRM), was based on the demand and supply forecast for January.
The product review meeting projected HSD demand to fall to 580,000 tonnes in January, compared to 800,000 tonnes in November. The reduced import requirement was also supported by local refineries, which did not oppose the import approval during the meeting, according to oil sector officials.
During the first five months of FY25, Pakistan imported 800,000 tonnes of HSD, with November seeing the highest monthly import of 332,000 tonnes due to harvesting-related demand.
Earlier in the fiscal year, imports were lower, with 98,000 tonnes in July, 147,000 tonnes in August, 131,000 tonnes in September, and 90,000 tonnes in October.
HSD consumption for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, reached eight million tonnes. Petroleum product sales for the first five months of FY25 rose by 5% year-on-year (YoY) to 6.75 million tonnes, compared to 6.45 million tonnes in the same period last year.
Product-wise, motor spirit (MS) and HSD sales increased, while furnace oil (FO) volumes declined. MS sales totalled 3.18 million tonnes, HSD sales reached 2.89 million tonnes, and FO sales stood at 0.31 million tonnes. In November, petrol sales rose by 17% YoY to 0.67 million tonnes, while HSD offtake grew by 21% YoY to 0.79 million tonnes.
For December, Ogra had approved the import of 200,000 tonnes of HSD by PSO and GO to meet market requirements.
