PSO starts lifting furnace oil from ATRL
Aftab Ahmed
Islamabad: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has started lifting furnace oil from Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) to supply it to power plants for electricity generation.
Power plants have started power generation on furnace oil following reduce the availability of RLNG and hydel generation. The demand for electricity has also swelled due to weather changes in summer. Officials said that PSO is also likely to start lifting furnace oil from other refineries.
Position at 2030Hrs Dated 08 June 2021
Recorded System Demand = 23,174MW
Recorded Generation to meet recorded demand = 22,243MW
Generation Available to meet prevailing system demand of the day= 22,250cMW
Shortfall = 924 MW
— Ministry of Energy (@MoWP15) June 8, 2021
Pak Arab Refinery Limited (Parco) and Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) had taken up the matter with Petroleum Division regarding lower furnace oil consumption by power plants.
The refineries had requested immediate resolution regarding the low upliftment of furnace oil by oil marketing companies (OMCs).
They had warned that it could result in a reduction in refineries operating capacity. They further cautioned that refineries could shut down in the worst case as the ullage is considerably low.
Such a situation can affect the supply chain of petroleum products for local consumption, but the supplies of JP-8 to the Pakistan aria force will also be affected.
The petroleum division has also written a letter to the power division on May 26, 2021, requesting the upliftment of furnace oil from oil marketing companies (OMCs) to ensure smooth refineries and local oil and gas fields.
Moreover, it has also requested them to firm up the actual demand of furnace oil to decide or import furnace oil.
The demand for furnace oil
There has been a massive difference in demand and actual consumption of furnace oil in the country. During April, the market of HSFO stood at 219,070 metric tons. However, its actual consumption dropped to 28,108 metric tons.
In LSFO, the power division had projected its demand at 98,850 metric tons, but actual consumption declined to 2104 metric tons.
Consumption in May
During May 2021, the power division had a projected demand of 263,060 metric tons for HSFO, which actual consumption dropped to 54,017 metric tons. In the case of LSFO, the demand projection was 119,738 metric tons. However, power plants’ actual consumption was 3,142 metric tons.
KE
In the case of K Electric, its demand was 105,200 metric tons, but it consumed only 43 522 metric tons. K-Electric had a projected demand of 101,400 metric tons during May. However, its actual consumption was 11 769 metric tons.
