Pakistan’s fuel oil exports rose to an all-time high in December amid declining demand from domestic utilities as the country focuses on alternate fuels such as gas and coal for power generation.
The South Asian nation exported 135,551 mt of fuel oil in December, about 37% higher from 98,830 mt in November, according to data released Jan. 18 by Pakistan’s Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), which compiles data related to fuel consumption, imports and exports.Fuel oil exports in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2023 stood at 433,945 mt, up from an overall export volume of 276,979 mt during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, the OCAC data showed. Pakistan’s financial year runs from July to June.Domestic consumption of fuel oil has been on a declining trend since long as the government has been encouraging electricity generation from other cheaper sources like coal, nuclear and regasified LNG, leaving huge stockpiles of fuel oil, said Muhammad Awais Ashraf, director research at Akseer Research.The country’s fuel oil consumption has also fallen as a result of the government’s plan to run tube wells in villages on solar power instead of fuel oil, Awais said.Fuel oil consumption dropped to 0.08 million mt in December, down about 33% year on year, OCAC data showed. Consumption in the six months ended Dec. 31, 2023 stood at 0.56 million mt, down about 61% on the year, the data showed.
