Pakistan State Oil (PSO) this week awarded its first fuel oil import tender in about two months, two trade sources said. That comes after the company left outstanding import tenders from late-June expire unawarded despite receiving multiple supplier offers, the sources said.
PSO bought a 65,000 tonne cargo of 180-centistock (cst) high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) from BE Energy SA, formerly Bakri Trading, for August 21-31 delivery at a premium of about $17 per tonne to Singapore 180-cst quotes on a free on board (FOB) basis, according to the sources. PSO still has outstanding tenders to import up to 585,000 tonnes of HSFO in September and again in October, but one trade source that has previously supplied PSO with fuel oil said he expected weak demand to keep the company's actual import volume limited over the coming months.
PSO did not respond to a request for comment.
Although PSO had halted fuel oil imports at the end of 2017 as the country turned to liquefied natural gas (LNG) to use in its power sector, PSO in May issued its first fuel oil import tender for the year ahead of an expected pickup in power demand for cooling during summer. But since late-June, PSO again halted its fuel oil purchases amid high domestic inventories of the fuel and as monsoon rains lowered electricity requirements, despite continuing to seek fuel oil cargoes for delivery from July onwards.
The company last imported fuel oil for delivery from June 11 to 20. Since May, PSO has typically sought to import up to 585,000 tonnes of HSFO per month for delivery in three 65,000-tonne cargoes every 10 days, the tender documents showed.
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