Petroleum dealers in Pakistan have issued a warning to close down filling stations across the country indefinitely, starting from Saturday morning. The decision comes after the outgoing government failed to honour its commitment of increasing their profit margins, leaving them dissatisfied with the current situation. Minister of State (Petroleum Division) Musadik Malik had reached out to the association’s chairman.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which had won the title of Asia’s best performing stock market in August 2020, took a U-turn and became the third worst performing market in the region. Amid the boiling political temperature and melting economy, investors witnessed the wipeout of 16.27% (or Rs1.35 trillion) of investment at the PSX. The petroleum refinery was the worst-hit sector in terms of losing market capitalisation.
Sales of petroleum products dropped to a six-and-a-half-year low at 4.42 million tons in the quarter ended September 30, 2019, as a contraction in industrial output. Moreover, this is the eighth successive quarter in which oil sales continued to fall in the country. Major decline in sales of furnace oil and high-speed diesel was also witnessed due to lack of requirement in power generation and drop in vehicle sales.