(Reuters) – India’s fuel demand in March hit a 10-month high, rising 9.3% from the previous month to 20.91 million metric tons, oil ministry data showed on Monday.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
India is the world’s third-largest consumer and importer of oil. The data is a proxy for the country’s oil demand.
BY THE NUMBERS
On a yearly basis, March fuel demand was down 3.1% from 21.57 million tons in the same month last year, the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell’s website showed.
Sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 10.6% to 3.5 million tons compared with last month’s 3.2 million tons, and were 5.7% higher than a year earlier.
Diesel consumption rose nearly 10% month-on-month to 8.1 million tons in March.
Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas sales increased 4.2% on an annual basis to 2.72 million tons, while naphtha sales fell almost 5% compared with last year to 1.08 million tons.
On a monthly basis, LPG and naphtha sales rose 5.8% and nearly 14%, respectively.
Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were 18.4% higher, while fuel oil use ticked up by 1.5% in March, in comparison with February.
CONTEXT
India’s infrastructure output increased 2.9% year-on-year in February, its slowest pace in five months.
India is considering a proposal to scrap import tax on U.S. liquefied natural gas to boost purchases and help cut the trade surplus with Washington, government and industry sources said.
KEY QUOTE
“Trade tensions might have an impact on oil demand growth, but for now I would still expect Indian oil demand to keep rising unless the world shifts into a recession,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
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March Februar January March February January
y
Diesel 8.08 7.34 7.74 8.01 7.44 7.42
Petrol 3.51 3.17 3.31 3.32 3.02 3.10
LPG 2.72 2.57 2.84 2.61 2.61 2.70
Naphtha 1.08 0.95 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.31
Jet fuel 0.80 0.74 0.78 0.76 0.71 0.72
Kerosene 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.03 0.04 0.04
Fuel Oil 0.48 0.48 0.55 0.53 0.52 0.56
Bitumen 0.99 0.83 0.77 1.05 0.88 0.75
TOTAL 20.91 19.14 20.47 21.57 20.19 19.86
(Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)
