ISLAMABAD: The deposits of natural gas and crude oil have depleted by 9.29 percent and 10.23 percent during first nine months (July-March) of current fiscal year 2022-23 as compare to same period of last fiscal year 2021-22, Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23 released on Thursday revealed.

The Survey revealed that 25.58 Mtr was extracted during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with 28.2 Mtr in the same period last fiscal year. Crude oil production dropped from 21.70 million barrels in first three quarters of last fiscal year of 2021-22 to 19.48 million barrels in same period of current fiscal year.

Imports of petroleum products during July-March fiscal year 2022-23 were around 6.1 million tonnes, valued at more than $ 5.7 billion. The major imported products are Motor Spirit (MS)/petrol, High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Furnace Oil (FO), with import quantities of 3,853.99 thousand tonnes, 1,645.6 thousand tonnes, and 530.6 thousand tonnes, respectively.

As such, this year witnessed a significant decrease in imports as compared to same period last fiscal year when imports were as follows: MS 4,987.25 thousand tonnes, HSD 2,615.92 thousand tonnes and FO 1,318.16 thousand tonnes.

The main consumers of petroleum products are the transport and power sectors, which account for 78.5 percent and 10.8 percent of the total consumption, respectively.

However, during the current fiscal year, the demand for petrol and HSD has decreased mainly due to high prices of these products, while demand for FO has declined due to the shift of power generation to Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) or coal and other alternative sources.

The total demand for petroleum products was 16.72 million tonnes in July-March fiscal year 2022 which declined by 21.9 percent during July-March fiscal year 2023.

Natural gas consumption amounted to around 3,258 MMCFD from July-March FY2023, which included 631 MMCFD of RLNG volume.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023