KARACHI: Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) sales during the month of May 2020 witnessed an increase of 39 percent with the major contributor being Furnace oil (FO), numbers issued by Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) suggest.
FO volumes clocked in at 144k MT, while Motor Spirit (MS) volumes recorded a 46 percent surge to 636k MT during May from 435k MT in April, 2020. Similarly, High Speed diesel (HSD) increased 26 percent to 687k MT during May as compared to April.
“Sales increase as the government partially lifted the lock-down across the country and allowed import-export related activities which resulted in higher industrial demand,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.
However, during the 11MFY20 (July-May 2019-20), the cumulative OMC offtakes declined 13 percent to 14.7mn MT as compared to 16.9mn MT in same period last year.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) witnessed a 60 percent sequential increase in volumes to 622k MT during May. This can be attributed to 94 percent increase in volumes of FO, 72 percent increase in MS volumes and 55 percent increase in HSD volumes. “This increase was primarily driven by low oil prices and higher demand from transporters. However, volumes witnessed a downward trend on yearly basis where FO is being the major contributor posting a decline of 93 percent, responding to the economic slowdown,” the analyst said.
Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) posted a sequential increase of 45 percent in volumes to 138k MT during May. 175 percent increase in FO volumes to 28k MT during May remained the major contributor.
However, on a yearly basis, APL recorded a 3.0 percent decline in volumes. Similarly, for 11MFY20, APL volumes take the edge off to 1.5mn MT. “These drop-in volumes can be attributed to the continuation of the economic slowdown amid lockdown situation”.
Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL) observed a 43 percent sequential increase in volumes to 117k MT during May 2020. The major contributor for HASCOL remained HSD, which surged 90 percent followed by 20 percent increase in MS.
On a yearly basis, HASCOL’s volumes declined 3.0 percent to 121k MT during May due to low demand scenario. For 11MFY20, total volumes decreased by 46 percent to clock in at 100k MT.
Shell Pakistan Limited (SHELL) volumes surged 23 percent in May 2020 on sequential basis. Shell recorded a notable decrease of 15 percent during 11MFY20 sales.