The recent fluctuations in prices of petroleum products on a global scalehave resulted in a massive surge in oil import cost in Pakistan, whichreportedly climbed 96 percent in the last four months.
The import bill for petroleum products escalated to $6.197 billion betweenJuly and October 2021 from $3.168 billion during the same period in 2020.
Analysts reasoned that the surge in the import bill is a result of anincrease in global prices of oil and Re-liquified Natural Gas (RLNG).Additionally, the increase in demand for petroleum products on a domesticscale has also caused an increase in the import bill.
Tahir Abbasi, Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited, told the media thatprices of oil in the international market are likely to decrease in thenear future, but there are no signs of a huge drop for now.
Khurram Shehzad of Alpha Beta Core predicted the same, stating that therewill be no sharp decline in prices of petroleum products in the twoupcoming quarters.
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The recent shortfall of RLNG has also contributed to the rise in fuelimport bills. According to a media report, local production of natural gascan only cater to seventy percent of the demand, which is why Pakistan hasbeen relying heavily on imported RLNG to meet its energy needs.
Market speculations also suggest that the situation is likely to stay thesame for six months before any significant developments take place in theoil sector.
