India’s July fuel demand rises 6.1% year-on-year, reveals ministry data

India’s fuel demand in July rose 6.1% year-on-year, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed on Monday.

Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 17.62 million tonnes in July, down 5.7% from 18.68 million tonnes in June.

“India’s fuel demand outlook is improving as the economy is poised for a strong bounce back in consumption and continued momentum for the services sector,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA.

“Fuel demand is softer than the prior month as higher prices are starting to impact demand…with the rupee at a historically low level, the country will struggle if oil prices continue to rebound.”

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 6.8% higher from a year earlier at 2.81 million tonnes.

Gasoline and gas oil sales by Indian state refiners in July fell from a month earlier as monsoon rains restricted mobility and construction work while high inflation curtailed overall demand for goods, per preliminary sales data.

Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 1.7% to 2.41 million tonnes, while naphtha sales fell 6.2% to 1.14 million tonnes.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were up 1.4%, while fuel oil use edged up 19.8% in July.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor