Daily Times

Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik on Thursday said import of petroleum products was witnessing a gradual decline due to effective policies and management of the incumbent coalition government, under the wise leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“This June, the country imported almost 9 per cent less petroleum products with effective management as compared to the same month of the last year,” the minister said while addressing a news conference along with Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan here.

In June 2021, he said around 778,000 Metric Ton (MT) petrol was sold in the country that came down to 704,000 MT in June 2022, showing a 9 percent decrease.

Similarly, there was an 8-9 percent decline in the sale of diesel oil used in heavy vehicles and agriculture machinery. “This has significantly reduced the country’s energy import,” he added.

Besides, he said there was almost a 30 per cent projected reduction in consumption of petrol, if comparison was drawn between July-2021 and July-2022.

“In July last, almost 818,000 Metric Ton petrol was consumed, and the consumption projection for the current month (July) is 580,000 MT.”

Likewise, he said around 730,000 MT diesel was consumed in July 2021, which was expected to be consumed approximately 500,000 MT in the current month.

He expressed the confidence that the fuel import would further decline in the coming days as the Petroleum Division was closely monitoring the situation on a daily basis.

Musadik Malik stressed the need for ‘serious interventions’ to create balance in the country’s imports and exports to prevent rupee’s further devaluation against the dollar and ensure economic stability.