Pakistan Refinery Sector saw strong data in March 2026

Overall refinery upliftment rose 13.0% YoY in Mar’26, driven by stronger MS and HSD offtake.
HSD/MS upliftment rose 26.8%/25.1 YoY to 491k tons and 239k tons, respectively, driven by stronger OMC demand amid expected price hikes, curtailed Iranian inflows, and higher utilisation.
Refinery FO sales declined 21.1% YoY to 190k tons. However, OMC data shows FO offtake rose 61.6% YoY to 88k tons, driven by increased FO-based power generation amid RLNG disruptions and stronger industrial demand. This suggests a reduction in loss-making FO exports, which had been elevated in prior months.
Refinery upliftment in 9MFY26 remained strong at 8.1 million tons, up 12.6% YoY, driven by higher MS and HSD offtake, which increased by 13.3% and 23.1% YoY, respectively.

Company-wise volumes and market share

ATRL’s sales stood at 127k tons in Mar’26, up 10.9% YoY. MS and HSD sales improved 59.4% and 31.4% YoY, respectively, while FO sales were down 67.8% YoY, driven by lower curtailment (only 2 RLNG cargoes imported vs. 8 planned), which enabled higher refinery utilization, alongside robust OMC demand amid expected price hikes.. Consequently, ATRL’s market share improved to 13.1%, vs 11.1% last month, comparable to its historical average of 13.7%.
PRL’s sales also improved by 23.8% YoY to 139k tons in Mar’26, as MS, HSD and FO volumes increased 49.9%, 6.6% and 42.0% YoY, respectively.
NRL’s sales, however, declined by 11.7% YoY to 21k tons in Mar’26, driven by a sharp decline in MS (-22.4%), HSD (-17.1%) .
CNERGY’s sales, however, surged by 15.7% YoY to 174k tons in Mar’26, as MS and HSD volumes improved by 123.1% and 104.3% YoY, respectively.

Mar’26: Refinery Production up 13.9% YoY

Industry Production, utilization and throughput

Overall refinery production in Mar’26 rose 13.9% YoY to 991k tons, driven by higher output of HSD (+12.8% YoY to 482k tons), MS (+16.3% YoY to 236k tons) and FO (+10.4% YoY to 216k tons). The increase likely reflects stronger domestic demand, leading to higher utilisation of MS and HSD amid anticipated price hikes.
Industry HSD throughput to 48.6%, respectively, in Mar’26, while MS and FO throughput declined to 23.8% and 21.8%, respectively, versus historical averages.
The industry operated at a utilisation rate of 58.0% in Mar’26, compared to 52.7% in Feb’26 and 50.9% in Mar’25.

Company-wise Utilisation and Throughput

§ In Mar’26, ATRL operated at a utilisation rate of 69.5%. MS and HSD throughput improved to 38.5% and 36.5%, respectively, while FO throughput declined to 17.2% versus historical averages.

§ In Mar’26, PRL operated at a utilisation rate of 70.4%. MS and FO throughput increased to 19.8% and 27.8%, respectively, while HSD throughput declined to 48.1% versus historical averages.

§ In Mar’26, NRL operated at a utilisation rate of 45.5%. FO throughput increased to 26.1%, respectively, while MS and HSD throughput declined to 16.5% and 54.8%, respectively, versus historical averages.

§ In Mar’26, CNERGY operated at the lowest utilisation rate of 30.3%. HSD and MS throughput increased to 44.5% and 18.9%, respectively, while FO throughput declined to 36.6%, compared with historical averages.

Courtesy – AHL Research