The pain is public. The profits are private. Consumers are bleeding at the pump. Oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Every visit to the petrol pump hurts consumers and enriches oil companies.
Consider the numbers. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) posted a net profit of Rs38.1 billion for the most recent nine-month reporting period. A year earlier, PSO had earned Rs15.3 billion. Profit up 149 percent. PSO itself attributes this profit surge to the war.
Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) reported profit of Rs14.76 billion, up from Rs7.7 billion. Profit up 92 percent.Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) reported gross profit of Rs25.49 billion. A year earlier, its gross profit was just Rs293 million. Not billion. Million.
National Refinery Limited (NRL) swung from a Rs2.76 billion loss to a Rs7.30 billion profit.Red alert: Why are oil companies making so much money while consumers are paying so much more?
The official answer is international prices. Yes, global oil prices rose. But that is not the whole story.When prices rise, Pakistan passes the pain to consumers immediately. When prices fall, relief is delayed, diluted and buried in opacity. In that gap, oil company margins widen. In that gap, the government collects more. The consumer pays both ways.
Petroleum levy has also exploded. What was once a Rs10 per litre supplementary tax is now one of the federal government’s largest revenue streams. The budget now expects around Rs1.7 trillion from petroleum levy alone.Three cold truths: Consumers pay more. Government collects more. Oil companies earn more.There is nothing wrong with profitable companies. There is nothing wrong with governments collecting taxes. But there is something deeply wrong when the consumer cannot see how every rupee at the pump is divided.
How much goes to the international supplier? How much to refineries? How much to oil marketing companies? How much to dealers? How much to the government?The numbers tell a clear story: consumers are paying more, oil companies are earning more and the government is collecting more. Pakistanis are being squeezed. Pakistan’s oil companies are minting money. As Pakistanis struggle to fill their tanks, oil companies are posting record profits. One side is paying more than ever. The other is earning more than ever.Plain truth: The only party not celebrating is the person standing at the pump.
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist.
