Islamabad March 19 2023: As per the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan Petroleum imports witnessed a decrease of 8.2 percent with quantum of USD 11,876 million during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2023 due to economic slowdown and record high local oil prices.
The decline in Petroleum imports is witnessed due to 14.5 percent YoY decline in petroleum products and 17.2 percent decline in Liquified Natural Gas imports.
Petrol and High Speed Diesel prices increased by 69.8 percent and 81.4 percent to PKR 272.9 a liter and PKR 280.9 a liter during the last week of February, according to data compiled by PBS.
However, in February 2023, Petroleum imports increased by 1 percent YoY to USD 1,264 million due to higher petroleum prices, while it is down by 4.6 percent compared to January 2023.
The decline in imports on year on year basis due to a decline in quantity of petroleum products. However, Crude oil volumes increased by 5.9 percent, respectively.
During February 2023 volumetric imports of petroleum products decreased by 13.9 percent to 689 thousand tons.
Petroleum product imports during first eight months of fiscal year 2023 decreased by 14.5 percent to USD 5,352 million, 33 percent lower volumetric imports were the reasons behind this decrease.
Crude oil imports during the same period increased by 10.3 percent to USD 3,438 million. Higher prices was the main reasons behind this increase, however volumes decreased by 11.3 percent to USD 5,170 thousand tons.
Country imported Liquified Natural Gas of worth USD 2,550 million in February 2023, which is 17.2 percent lower when compared with the imports during the same month last year. However, Liquified Petroleum Gas imports increased by 8.2 percent during February 2023 to USD 489 million.
