The petroleum production during the first eight months of current fiscal year (2015-16) witnessed increase of 6.20 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The products that contributed in positive growth of petroleum included jet fuel oil, production of which increased by 8.70 per cent during July-February (2015-16) compared to the production of July-February (2014-15), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The other products that witnessed increase in production included motor spirits, output of which went up by 3.32 per cent and high speed diesel which grew by 4.61 per cent during the period under review.
Similarly, the furnace oil production increased by 8.03 per cent, lubricating oil by 17.51 per cent, while the production of LPG surged by 17 per cent.
The products that witnessed negative growth in production during the period under review included kerosene oil, output of which declined by 10.57 per cent.
Similarly, the production of diesel oil, jute batching oil and solvent naptha decreased by 22.56 per cent, 18.69 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively.
On year-on-year basis, the production of petroleum products increased by 3.81 per cent during the month of February 2016 when compared to February 2015. During the month under review, production of kerosene oil decreased by 14.24 per cent, motor spirits by 0.36 per cent, diesel oil by 37.27 per cent, furnace oil by 1.56 per cent and jute batching oil by 21.37 per cent.
It is pertinent to mention here that overall large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector witnessed growth of 4.35 per cent during the first eight months of current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The Quantum Index Numbers (QIM) of large-scale manufacturing industries was recorded at 131.16 points during July-February (2015-16) against 125.69 points during same period of last year, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The highest growth of 2.38 per cent was witnessed in the indices monitored by the ministry of industries followed 1.59 per cent increase in indices of provincial bureaus of statistics (PBOS) while the indices of oil companies advisory committee (OCAC) increased by 0.38 per cent. On year-to-year basis, the industrial growth increased by 2.83 per cent during February 2016 as compared to same month of last year while on month-to-month basis, the industrial growth decreased by 5.08 per cent during February 2016 when compared to growth of January 2016, the data revealed.
