Pakistan’s refining sector showed a recovery in September 2025, driven by a 32.1% year-on-year increase in high-speed diesel (HSD) offtake. This surge was attributed to strong agricultural demand, increased transport activity, and a reduction in Iranian diesel imports.
Industry data revealed a 21.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase in throughput, excluding furnace oil, signaling a rebound in fuel consumption and economic activity.
In response to rising domestic demand, refineries increased their throughput. Parco accounted for around 55% of the total industry output, maintaining strong performance with utilisation rates of 93% in April, 103% in June, 81% in July, and 84% in August, before peaking at 98% in September.
Diesel and motor spirit (MS) sales saw an increase of 38.7% and 19.4% YoY, respectively. Despite the positive trends, furnace oil (FO) demand continued its decline, falling 57.3% YoY to 99,000 tonnes. The drop in FO sales was attributed to government-imposed petroleum levies, which made furnace oil-based power generation increasingly unviable, as prices soared by Rs85,000 per tonne, raising generation costs to Rs54 per kilowatt-hour at 40% efficiency.
Among individual refineries, National Refinery Limited (NRL) saw an 11.3% YoY increase in sales, reaching 108,000 tonnes. Diesel sales increased by 30.6%, and MS sales jumped by nearly 75%, reflecting a shift toward higher-margin products.
On the other hand, Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) experienced operational constraints, resulting in a 26.4% YoY decline in total sales to 97,000 tonnes. Despite a 18.4% increase in diesel sales, its market share fell to 12%, below its historical average of 14%.
Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) recorded a 10.2% YoY decline in total volumes, while Cnergyico (formerly Byco) saw the steepest drop, down 35.3%, driven by weaker diesel and FO demand.
Cnergyico’s utilization remained the lowest in the industry, despite a 3.9% increase in MS sales.
Overall, refinery production in September totaled 866,000 tonnes, a 1.0% YoY increase. Diesel output rose by 7.1% to 432,000 tonnes, while MS and FO output decreased by 3.3% and 8.1%, respectively.
The sector’s average utilization rate improved to 50.7% from 43.5% in August. Among major refineries, ATRL and PRL operated at 65.8% and 63.2% utilization, respectively, while NRL maintained 40.9% and Cnergyico lagged at 13.5%.
