Pakistan’s oil imports above US$10 billion in FY10

Pakistan’s oil import bill increased by 6.1% to US$10.09 billion during the last fiscal year 2009-2010 against US$9.51 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year, as per the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) data. Reasons behind the surge in the oil import bill were hikes in international crude oil and petroleum products prices, and on the local side, lower consumption of compressed natural gas (CNG) which pushed higher consumption of petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) products through imports. This is the second time in Pakistan’s history that the oil import bill reached the US$10 billion mark; previously it was in fiscal year 2008 when the country imported US$11.46 billion worth of crude oil and petroleum products. (July 20, 2010)