Petrol and diesel sales in the country fell in July over the previous month as the onset of monsoon chipped away demand in some sectors and restricted mobility, preliminary industry data showed.
Diesel, the most widely used fuel in the country, saw consumption drop 13.1% to 6.44 million tonnes from 7.39 million tonnes of demand in June.
The arrival and intensity of monsoon weigh heavily on diesel demand in the country and consumption traditionally is lower in July-September than in April-June. Rains restrict mobility and demand from the farm sector, which uses diesel in irrigation pumps and trucking, also drops with the onset of rains.
Diesel demand in July was, however, 17.1% higher year-on-year, supported by strong economic growth and a relatively low baseline for the same period in 2021 when the second wave of COVID-19 had impacted the economy.
Consumption of diesel was 32.4% higher than the 4.84 million tonnes demand during July 2020 and 5% more than the pre-COVID sale of 6.11 million tonnes in July 2019, the data showed.
Petrol sales fell 5% to 2.66 million tonnes in July when compared with 2.8 million tonnes of consumption in the previous month.
The consumption was, however, 12.2% higher than in July 2021 and 31.2% more than the same month in 2020. It was 16.3% more than pre-COVID July 2019.
Auto fuel demand in June was supported by a surge in summer travel to colder areas of the country to escape from the heat and vacations during annual breaks at educational institutions.
As the aviation sector opens up, India’s overall passenger traffic (both domestic and international) at airports inched closer to pre-COVID-19 levels.
Accordingly, jet fuel (ATF) demand soared by 79% to 5,33,600 tonnes during July when compared year-on-year. It was 137.4% higher than July 2020 but 14.1% lower than pre-COVID July 2019. Month-on-month, sales fell 1.07%.
With strong economic growth of 7.1%, India's oil demand has been rising steadily since the country eased pandemic lockdowns.
Cooking gas LPG sales were up 4.14% year-on-year at 2.46 million tonnes in July. This was despite a ₹50 per cylinder hike in prices.
LPG consumption was 8.4% higher than in July 2020 and 11.9% more than in July 2019.
Month-on-month too, the demand was up 8.7% when compared with 2.26 million tonnes of LPG consumption during June, the data showed.
