In March, India's fuel consumption fell 0.6% year over year (y-o-y). Nonetheless, demand rose by almost 5% for the 2024 fiscal year, mostly as a result of increasing sales of naphtha and vehicle gasoline.
The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the energy ministry released preliminary data indicating that the overall consumption in March was 21.09 million metric tonnes (4.99 million barrels per day), which is a proxy for oil demand. Compared to the 21.22 million tonnes (5.02 mbpd) recorded during the same period previous year, there was a modest reduction.
But for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024, fuel consumption increased to a new high of 233.276 million tonnes (4.67 mbpd) from 223.021 million tonnes (4.48 mbpd) the year before.
Sales of diesel, which is mostly used by trucks and commercial passenger cars, rose 3.1% year over year to 8.04 million tonnes in March and gained 4.4% for the preceding fiscal year.
In the meantime, petrol sales increased 6.9% year over year to 3.32 million tonnes in March, and they increased 6.4% for the entire fiscal year.
Bitumen sales, which are essential for building roads, were basically unchanged in March but increased by 9.9% for the entire fiscal year.
Compared to the same period last March, sales of naphtha significantly climbed by 5.5% to around 1.19 million tonnes, while sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), often known as cooking gas, increased by 8.6% to 2.61 million tonnes.
On the other hand, the use of fuel oil decreased by 6.3% for the fiscal year and by 9.7% year over year in March.
