OMC sales: High prices stall momentum

Business Recorder reported that petroleum sales by oil marketing companies slipped in August 2026, down 3 percent from a year earlier and 16 percent from July. Excluding furnace oil, volumes fell 9.3 percent annually and close to 19 percent month on month, erasing much of the strong July start.

Diesel bore the heaviest losses: high-speed diesel volumes shrank 19 percent annually and 32 percent monthly. Petrol was steadier, slipping 1 percent on a yearly basis and 9 percent from July, and in August petrol was about 26 percent costlier than a year ago while diesel was roughly 36 percent more expensive. Because diesel powers freight, farming and industry, its steeper fall deserves attention, though a single month of dispatch data cannot show how far economic activity has slowed.

Furnace oil went the other way, with August sales up 429 percent year on year and 26 percent month on month. The report attributes this partly to a weak base last year and partly to heavier use for power generation during RLNG supply disruptions, so it reflects gas shortages rather than stronger activity. Across the first two months of FY27, total petroleum sales still rose nearly 10 percent, with petrol up about 8 percent, diesel just over 1 percent higher and furnace oil more than five times its earlier level.