Refineries See Sharp Drop in Fuel Sales as Diesel Demand Drops

Pakistan’s total refinery upliftment declined 8.1 percent year-on-year in June 2026 to 881,000 tonnes, mainly due to weaker demand for high-speed diesel (HSD) and furnace oil (FO), according to data compiled by Arif Habib Limited.

HSD uplift dropped 16 percent year-on-year to 423,000 tonnes from 504,000 tonnes in June last year. Analysts attributed the decline to lower purchases by oil marketing companies (OMCs) and a resurgence in cross-border diesel smuggling as domestic HSD prices remained relatively high.

In contrast, motor spirit (MS), commonly known as petrol, remained resilient. Petrol uplift increased 13.3 percent year-on-year to 244,000 tonnes, although it slipped 1.2 percent compared with May. Furnace oil demand also remained weak, falling 26.6 percent year-on-year to 154,000 tonnes.

Among individual refineries, Cnergyico recorded the strongest performance, with total uplift rising 12.4 percent year-on-year to 161,000 tonnes. Attock Refinery also posted growth of 6 percent, reaching 101,000 tonnes.

Pakistan Refinery Limited’s total uplift fell 22.3 percent to 100,000 tonnes, while National Refinery Limited recorded a 12.4 percent decline to 105,000 tonnes. PARCO, the country’s largest refinery by volume, reported a 12.1 percent decline to 413,000 tonnes despite maintaining the largest market share.

For FY2025-26, total refinery uplift increased 8.6 percent year-on-year to 10.85 million tonnes. Petrol sales rose 11 percent to 2.63 million tonnes, while diesel demand increased 13.6 percent to 5.49 million tonnes. Furnace oil continued its long-term decline, with annual uplift dropping 7.8 percent to 2.19 million tonnes.

PARCO retained the largest share of refinery uplift in June at 47 percent, followed by Cnergyico at 18 percent, National Refinery at 12 percent, Pakistan Refinery at 11 percent and Attock Refinery at 12 percent.