Sources have said that after inspecting the sales pattern for June 2022, the industry noticed an alleviation in the demand for both fuels i.e petrol and diesel, after the government completely reversed the subsidy on petroleum products on June 15, 2022
The government and oil sector of the country has worked out the injunction and supply of petroleum products for the month of July in a contemporary meeting.
The current sales dropped to 16,500 to 17,000 tons per day from 24,000 tons per day on average from 1-15 June 2022.
However, the oil industry expects an increase in sales during the last few days of June due to price increase uncertainty on July 01, 2022.
In July, the sales of petroleum products are likely to lessen as an increase in prices might dent the sales amid the shrinking buying powers of the poor consumers.
According to the sources, after taking into account the production of local refineries, it was decided to import the shortfall of both products.
The country is estimated to be importing around 280,000 tonnes of HSD and 570,000 tonnes of petrol in the following month.
The prices of petrol and HSD peaked at the highest level in the country’s history on the back of rising prices of crude oil as well as the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, which made the petroleum products costlier for the domestic consumers.
Petrol is currently available at Rs233.89 per liter after the government increased its price by Rs.24.03 in the last fortnightly review on June 15, 2022, by withdrawing the subsidy on it on the demand of the International Monetary Fund.
The price of diesel jumped to Rs263.31/liter after an increase of Rs59.16 per liter in the last fortnightly review after the abolition of the huge subsidy of Rs59.16 under the condition of IMF to qualify for the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)’s next tranche.
The country relies on imported petroleum products due to the limited capacity of refineries to produce petroleum products from imported and locally produced crude oil.
The indigenous crude oil output fell to an average of 73,668 barrels per day in July-May of the current fiscal year compared to the average of 75,548 barrels per day the country produced in the same months of the last year.
The production of oil reduced to 24.31 million tonnes in the first eleven months of the current fiscal compared to 24.93 million tonnes in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
