Karachi:The demand forecast of petrol is projected to be the highest as compared to that of other petroleum products during 2014-15 to 2018-19, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) said.
The demand of petrol is estimated at 4.638 million tonnes in FY15 which will go up to 5.333m tonnes in FY16, 5.867m tonnes in FY17, 6.453m tonnes in FY18 and 7.1m tonnes in FY19.
OCAC Chairman Aftab Husain told Dawn on Friday that CNG loadshedding would be the key reason for higher demand of petrol in coming years.
“Besides, rising import of power generators, increase in two and three wheeler sales combined with rising imports of used cars are some other factors. Sale of locally produced cars is also going strong,” he said.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), imports of power generating machines rose to $1.2 billion in July-May 2014-15 as compared to $978 million in the same period last year, while its imports stood at $1bn in FY14 and $958 million in FY13.
As per data of Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (Pama), sales of cars in July-May 2014-15 improved to 136,723 units as compared to 107,789 units in the same period last year. Aftab said that the petrol prices had fallen from Rs108 to Rs78 per litre in less than one year time thus encouraging people to consume more gasoline in their vehicles.
Actual sales of petrol in 2013-14 was 3.865m tonnes which was 1.183m tonnes in 2005-06, OCAC website reveals.
Furnace oil demand is likely to remain pegged at 9m tonnes from 2014-15 to 2018-19. Furnace oil demand has been fixed due to financial constraints faced by Pepco.
The OCAC chairman said: “If the sustainable supply of LNG continues then it will replace furnace oil eventually in the power sector.” In high speed diesel (HSD) demand, a 2pc growth is projected for 2015-16 from 7.270m tonnes in 2014-15. Over 50pc diesel is consumed in transportation.
Pama figures revealed sale of locally produced trucks rose to 3,598 units in July-May 2014-15 as compared to 2,232 units in the same period last year.
Bus sales slightly fell to 498 units in July-May 2014-15 from 529 units in the same period last year. Overall pick up sales (Suzuki Ravi and Toyota Hilux) jumped to 24,379 units from 16,011 units.
OCAC has fixed demand for kerosene at 15,000 metric tonnes per month from 2015-16 onwards, while in light diesel oil, demand has been fixed at 3,500 tonnes per month from 2015-16 onwards.
