Karachi, November 04, 2022 (PPI-OT): Pakistan Refineries: Reawakening the incumbents

As super profits of refiners begin to cool off, the recent re-emergence of the long-awaited refinery policy has spurred life into the sector’s prospects once more.

More than any increases in gross margins either through cracking spreads/ duty protections, it is the decontrol of fuel prices that is expected to be the positive trigger going forward. We believe this may bring about operational efficiencies for both the OMCs and Refiners alike.

Furthermore, a modern refining sector will also boost manufacturing and possible export of allied petroleum chemical products (e.g. polypropylene and polyethylene etc.), as currently the country’s indigenous manufacturing is only limited to PVC and other synthetic fibers.

ATRL turns out to be the major beneficiary of increase in effective duty protection on MS/HSD due to the company’s retail fuel yields outperforming other refiners.