Hormuz Shock Adds $1.3bn To Pakistan's Fuel Bill In March-July Period

بحر ہرمز کشیدگی سے مارچ تا جولائی میں پاکستان کے فیول بل میں ایک ارب 30 کروڑ ڈالر کا اضافہ

Hormuz Shock Adds $1.3bn To Pakistan's Fuel Bill In March-July Period

The Iran war and disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have sharply increased energy import costs across South Asia, with Pakistan, India and Bangladesh facing billions of dollars in additional fuel and LNG bills as higher oil and gas prices combine with rising freight, insurance and supply costs. Pakistan's petroleum import bill surged in the months following an escalation in the Iran conflict, rising from around $983 million in March to $1.28 billion in July, while reaching nearly $1.91 billion in June, according to official trade data. Country's petroleum-group imports during March-July 2026 totalled roughly $7.7-$7.9 billion, compared with about $6.6 billion during the corresponding period of 2025, representing an increase of around $1.3 billion, or nearly 20 per cent. The sharpest increase came in April, when the petroleum import bill jumped to around $1.79 billion, compared with $1.35 billion a year earlier. It remained elevated in May and reached approximately $1.91 billion in June, up about 46 per cent year-on-year. The pressure eased in July when the petroleum-group import bill fell to around $1.28 billion, down sharply from June. Despite the monthly correction, the cumulative March-July bill remained substantially higher than a year earlier. The oil shock has been accompanied by higher LNG costs. Pakistan's petroleum-group imports in June included around $221.5 million worth of LNG, adding to the foreign-exchange burden created by expensive petroleum products. The disruption of energy flows through Hormuz has increased not only crude and LNG prices but also freight, marine insurance and security costs, raising the landed cost of energy cargoes. The additional energy cost comes after Pakistan's petroleum-group imports had already reached approximately $16.86 billion in FY2025-26, up 5.76 per cent from the previous year. Crude oil imports increased by more than 31 per cent during the year. However, according to the data from the Finland-based climate think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran has caused the oil and gas import bill of the world to swell by as much as $330 billion over the six months between March and August. Europe suffered the biggest hit at $78 billion, followed by China at $35 billion and India at $22 billion, reflecting their heavy dependence on imported energy. India has suffered an even larger increase in absolute terms because of its enormous crude-import requirement. The country's crude oil import bill jumped 56.5 per cent to $63.4 billion during April-July 2026, despite broadly stable import volumes, as the average price of imported crude surged. India's crude import price reached approximately $114.48 per barrel in April, compared with $67.70 a year earlier. Its oil import bill stood at around $13.7 billion in July alone, up about 41 per cent year-on-year. India imports roughly 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements, making its economy highly sensitive to international oil prices and disruptions affecting Middle Eastern supply routes. The increase in crude costs has added to pressure on India's merchandise trade balance, with expensive oil raising the dollar value of one of the country's largest import categories. Bangladesh has also suffered a sharp energy-cost shock. Bangladesh Bank data show petroleum-goods imports more than doubled to $10.64 billion in FY2025-26 from $5.14 billion a year earlier.