In December, petrol sales increased 8.6% to 2.76 million tonnes from consumption of 2.54 million tonnes in the same month last year. Sales were 23.2% greater than pre-pandemic December 2019 and 13.3% higher than COVID-affected December 2020.
On the strong base of the holiday season developed since October, demand increased month over month by 3.7%.
Diesel, the most used fuel in the country, posted a 13 per cent rise in sales in December to 7.3 million tonnes, as compared to the same month last year.Consumption increased by 14.8% over December 2020 and by 11.3% over pre-COVID 2019. However, Diesel sales dropped marginally by 0.5 per cent when compared with November 2022.
Petrol and diesel sales were the highest since June.
Industry sources said diesel demand has been surging on pick up in the agriculture sector. Use of the fuel in irrigation pumps and trucking has helped build the momentum generated from the festive season demand push in October. Rabi crop sowing led to a pick-up in economic activity and a rise in demand.
According to industry insiders, the increase in diesel consumption is a result of the agriculture sector’s recovery. The impetus created by the demand surge for the holiday season in October has been strengthened by the use of the fuel in irrigation pumps and trucking. Rabi crop sowing resulted in a rise in demand and an uptick in economic activity
Auto fuel sales had dipped in July and August owing to the monsoon and reduced demand.
As the aviation sector opened up, India’s overall passenger traffic at airports inched closer to pre-COVID-19 levels.
Reflecting the trend, jet fuel (ATF) demand jumped 18 per cent to 606,000 tonnes during December when compared to the same month last year. It was 50.6 per cent higher than December 2020 but 12.1 per cent lower than pre-COVID December 2019.
Sources said while domestic air travel is back to pre-COVID levels, international traffic is lagging because of continued restrictions in some countries.
India’s recovery has continued to gain momentum in recent months but has been accompanied by elevated inflation. This slowed the momentum a bit in July-September. The country’s oil demand has been rising steadily since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Cooking gas LPG sales were up 7.7 per cent year-on-year at 2.72 million tonnes in December. LPG consumption was 7.7 per cent higher than in December 2020 and 15.9 per cent more than in December 2019.
Month-on-month, the demand was up 6.47 per cent when compared to 2.55 million tonnes of LPG consumption during November, the data showed.
Inputs from PTI
