Oil import bill increased by 95% in 10 months: PES

Jun 09, 2022: The country has imported oil worth $ 17.03 billion during first 10 months from July to April of the current fiscal year 2021-22 to meet its energy needs, witnessing almost 95 percent increase in the oil import bill as compared to same period of the last year.

“The latest available data indicates that the import bill of oil has increased to US$ 17.03 billion during July-April FY2022 compared to US$8.69 billion during the same period last year, showing an increase of 95 percent,” according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 unveiled by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail at a news conference here on Thursday.

The Survey document said the crude oil imports rose by 75.34 percent in value and 1.4 percent in quantity. Similarly, the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) witnessed an increase of 82.90 percent in value while the LNG imports also jumped by 39.86 percent in quantity during the period under review.

During July-February of the fiscal year 2021-22, around 75.64 percent of gas was domestically produced while 24.36 percent of gas was being imported.

Currently, the overall electricity generation from coal has reached 5,280 megawatt, the document said, adding that the Thar coal was contributing in generation of 1,320 MW power. “Imported coal’s contribution to electricity generation is 3,960 MW which is around 75 percent of the total electricity generation from coal in the country.”

APP