KARACHI:  Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has bought a total of 840,000 tonnes, or 96 per cent of the fuel oil and gasoline it was seeking for August-October delivery, traders said on Tuesday.

The state-owned firm has bought six out of seven 87-octane gasoline cargoes it was initially seeking from Vitol, Oman Trading, Swiss Singapore and Glencore at premiums of $96-$122 a tonne to Middle East naphtha quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.  It had previously already bought a total of 105,000 tonnes for August delivery at $111.80-$118.87 a tonne premium.

PSO has also bought 520,000 tonnes of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) for delivery between August and October at between $29.91 and $33.22 a tonne, and 110,000 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) at $96.89 a tonne.  Separately, PSO has postponed the closing and validity dates of its one-year contract to buy 2 million tonnes of HSFO by more than two months to Oct. 3 and Nov. 30 respectively.  But the reasons behind the delay were not immediately known.

Domestic demand for fuel oil is set to rise, especially in the coming months. While Pakistan usually relies on hydroelectric power, decreased output during the summer months means the country has to turn to fuel oil-powered plants.