AlwaysFree: India’s Gasoil, Gasoline Sales Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels

The sales of gasoil and gasoline in India surpassed pre-pandemic levels in October, according to data compiled by state refiner IOCL. The data showed that gasoil sales rose 6.6% year-on-year (YoY) to 6.17 million tons last month, marking the first annual increase since the nationwide lockdown began in late March. Compared to September, gasoil sales jumped by 27.5%. Meanwhile, gasoline sales rose 4% YoY to 2.4 million tons, 8.6% higher than September. Conversely, jet fuel sales halved from a year ago to 328,000 tons. The data comprised fuel sales of IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL, which own about 90% of retail fuel stations in India. Rising fuel consumption should be a boon for domestic refiners, which cut crude processing due to the health crisis. IOCL plans to reach a full capacity in the next couple of months, from 95% currently.