International Oil Prices Fall Further Over Demand Uncertainty

International oil prices registered a decline of around 2 percent on Thursday, a continuation of the trend witnessed in the previous session when prices fell by nearly 6 percent. The decision by OPEC+ to maintain output cuts has been trumped by the demand outlook due to which prices have declined. Brent crude futures have decreased by around $10 a barrel in the last 10 days after nearing the $100 mark in September. Brent futures fell $1.62, or 1.9 percent by 1609 GMT while the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.55 cents at $82.73. Pakistan’s petroleum group imports decreased by 27 percent in FY23 and stood at $17.014 billion compared to $23.318 billion in FY22, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The country’s Petroleum group imports have slumped by 34.25 percent during the first two months (July-August) of FY24 to $2.171 billion compared to imports of $3.302 billion in the same period of FY23. The decrease in imports during the current fiscal year is down to the increasing prices of petroleum products in the local market. September’s domestic sales were the lowest since March 2020. A sustained decline in international oil prices greatly benefits oil importing countries, including Pakistan as the major chunk of the import bill is due to oil imports.