As shown by India’s provisional industry data, the country’s state refiners in September posted soaring annual gasoline sales to pre-coronavirus levels and diesel posted a moderate improvement in the slow diesel slow. The easing lockdown restriction supported energy consumption and economic activity.
Gasoline sales by state refiners posted the first growth since March by 1.85% year-on-year to 2.2 million tonnes last month. On a monthly basis, the gasoline sales jumped by 10.5%.
India’s commuters are increasingly dependent on vehicles amid the increasing coronavirus cases in the country. The phenomenon also affected the sale of passenger cars.
According to data from the Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), last month, gasoil sales surged by 22% month-on-month, but still down by 7.3% on a yearly basis at 4.84 million tonnes. In the month, IOC’s crude processing rate improved on account of a fuel demand recovery.
State-run retailers sold 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) last month, up by 5.3% year-on-year and 3.6% month-on-month. Sales of jet fuels climbed by 23.4% from August but slumped by 53% compared to September 2019, to 290,000 tonnes as the restriction on air travel persists.
Looking ahead, IOC chairman M.S. Vaidya expected that fuel demand would go back to the levels last seen before the pandemic in the last quarter of 2020.
