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Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is looking to purchase up to 815,000 tonnes of fuel oil for delivery in early 2013, Reuters reports.

Pakistan's leading oil marketer is seeking eight 65,000-tonne cargoes of high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) for delivery between January and February, and two optional cargoes of the same volume and grade for February delivery.

PSO is also in the market for two 55,000-tonne parcels of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) for delivery between January and February, and one optional LSFO cargo for delivery in February, tender documents showed.

The company typically buys from fuel oil players such as Bakri, Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore. Up until the end of last year, PSO had also been a regular purchaser of fuel oil from Sharjah-based FAL Oil, until the UAE firm was blacklisted by PSO after failing to meet its contractual agreements. Since then, FAL Oil has also been blacklisted by the United States due to its alleged links with Iran.

The fuel oil purchased by PSO is mainly used for power generation. Demand usually peaks during the summer, when less hydropower output means Pakistan has to turn to fuel oil-powered plants.

Pakistan is one of the few growth areas for the fuel oil market in the world as its electricity is still generated by oil-fired plants, while other countries have turned towards other power generation solutions due to environmental concerns.

PSO also acts as an intermediary for the supply of bunker fuel to the country's national shipping company Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) as well as to Pakistan's navy.