KARACHI (January 17 2003) : The oil companies in the country raised the furnace oil prices by as much as 5.14 percent, the rates are effective from Thursday.
Pakistan State Oil Ltd, raised the prices by Rs 545 a tonne or 4.54 percent to Rs 12,547 per tonne while Shell Pakistan increased the price of furnace oil by Rs 617 or 5.15 percent to Rs 12,604 a tonne.
The increase in prices is the reflection of world crude oil price, which despite increase in output was hovering around $30 a barrel.
Pakistan consumes nearly eight million tonnes of furnace oil annually.
Analysts expect that the consumption of furnace oil may decline in the current fiscal year as most of the cement companies have switched to coal in order to cut their costs.