KARACHI: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) appear more focused on opening new fuel retail outlets, a trend that seems at odds with the government’s newly announced auto policy, which aims to make vehicles affordable and promote electric vehicles (EVs) adoption.
The Auto Policy 2026-31 aims to make 30 per cent of all new vehicles in Pakistan electric by 2030.
Oil marketing companies are more upbeat about rising petrol demand, driven by robust sales of petrol-powered two-wheelers and 660-1,000cc cars, despite uncertainty over fuel prices following the US-Iran war.
Against this backdrop, rising petrol prices have further increased demand for motorcycles, as an ineffective public transport system continues to leave consumers reliant on owning one new or used depending on their income.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) completed the development of 37 new retail sites during 1QFY27, bringing its nationwide network to 3,727 outlets, the largest in the country. It also commissioned electric vehicle (EV) chargers in Faisalabad and Multan, expanding its charging network to 16 locations.
PSO added 92 retail outlets in FY26.
Wafi Energy Pakistan Ltd said it expanded its network by adding 54 new Shell retail sites and nine electric vehicle charging locations in the first nine months ending Sept 30.
Attock Petroleum Ltd (APL) commissioned five new retail outlets in 1QFY27 while six underperforming sites were phased out as part of the ongoing network optimisation exercise. Accordingly, the company’s operational retail network stood at 816 outlets as of Sept 30, including 46 Company-Owned Company-Operated (COCO) sites.
APL also expanded its EV charging infrastructure in collaboration with strategic partners. EV chargers atDandiwal Service Areas on the M-4 Motorway were operationalised in collaboration with Hubco Green, while further installations are planned at selected motorway and retail locations.
In partnership with Huawei Technologies Pakistan and AE Power Energy, APL installed a heavy-duty EV charger at a COCO site in Islamabad, with expansion planned at 13 additionalselected retailoutlets.
An oil industry executive said the government has issued licences to 50 OMCs. Somehow, 48 companies have established their presence in the country.
As OMCs move slowly to open charging stations, he said pumps do not offer this facility worldwide, as electric bike and car owners charge their vehicles at their apartments, houses, and shopping malls, but the government continues to pressurise fuel pump owners to install chargers.
The country has five million cars, 30m bikes and 10m rickshaws on its roads. Petrol demand is expected to remain robust because many older vehicles continue to operate, with no policy requiring vehicles to be scrapped after decades on the road, he said.
He said OMCs are also focusing on opening new pumps at new highways, bypasses and motorways in the upcountry.
The executive said petrol demand will remain robust, as 50-60pc of twowheelers still run on petrol despite some improvement in electric bike sales after a surge in petrolprices.
The number of electric two-wheelers sold increased to 240,000 in FY26 from 60,000 in FY25.
According to Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) data, overall bike assembly during July-August FY27 rose to 442,179 units from 321,788 units in the same period last year. The country assembled 2.416m two-wheelers in FY26, up from 1.692m in FY25.
Overall car sales in 1QFY27 increased to 41,872 units from 29,318 in the same period last fiscal year, while sales of SUVs, pickups, vans and jeeps fell to 8,608 from 12,949 units in the above period.