(Reuters) -India’s fuel consumption in October rose by 2.9% year-on-year to 20.04 million metric tons, oil ministry data showed on Wednesday, driven by strong economic activity.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
India is the third-largest consumer and importer of oil. The data is a proxy for the country’s oil demand.
KEY QUOTE
The drag from the strong monsoon on diesel has ended, with the solid economic activity in India supporting oil demand growth across key fuels, said analyst Giovanni Staunovo of UBS.
BY THE NUMBERS
On a monthly basis, fuel demand was up 11.7% from 17.94 million tons in September, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell’s (PPAC) website showed.
Sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 8.6% from a year earlier to 3.41 million tons.
Diesel consumption saw a steep rise by 19.9% month-on-month to 7.64 million tons in October, also its highest in five months. It inched up by 0.18% year-on-year (Y/Y).
Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 9.3% on an annual basis to hit a record high of 2.73 million tons in October, while naphtha sales fell 1.1% to 1.18 million tons Y/Y.
CONTEXT
India’s manufacturing growth gained momentum in October after decelerating for three months as demand improved significantly, helping in job creation and leading to a better business outlook, according to a business survey.
India’s dominant services industry rebounded last month, recovering from a 10-month low in September due to strong demand growth, signaling a solid start for Asia’s third-largest economy in Q4, 2024, according to a business survey.
DOMESTIC SALES (in million tons):
2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023
OCT. SEPT. AUG. OCT. SEPT. AUG.
Diesel 7.64 6.37 6.50 7.63 6.49 6.67
Petrol 3.41 3.15 3.36 3.14 3.06 3.09
LPG 2.73 2.60 2.66 2.50 2.55 2.46
Naphtha 1.18 1.03 1.16 1.19 1.03 1.21
Jet fuel 0.76 0.73 0.73 0.69 0.66 0.68
Kerosene 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.05
Fuel Oil 0.65 0.57 0.49 0.53 0.54 0.51
Bitumen 0.69 0.50 0.29 0.75 0.50 0.50
TOTAL 20.04 17.94 18.26 19.47 18.21 18.85
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter and Sharon Singleton)
