India’s fuel demand in June extended its recovery from a 13-year low hit in April, lifted by a pickup in activity as the economy gradually reopens from lockdown restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed on Thursday.
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Consumption of refined fuels, a proxy for oil demand, rose to 16.29 million tonnes in June, 11% above the prior month, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas showed.
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However, demand was still down 7.9% compared with the same month a year ago.
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Demand for fuel plunged to 9.94 million tonnes in April, its lowest level since 2007 as stringent lockdown measures hammered economic activity, but it has since recovered by 64%.
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Diesel consumption, which accounts for about two-fifths of India’s overall fuel usage, nearly doubled to 6.30 million tonnes last month from 3.26 million tonnes in April.
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On a year-on-year basis, demand for diesel registered its fourth straight decline in June at 15.4%.
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Sales of gasoline, or petrol, fell by 13.6% from a year earlier to 2.28 million tonnes, but were about 134% higher than 0.97 million tonnes in April.
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Demand for industrial fuels also rose, with naphtha sales rising by 18.2% to 1.17 million tonnes from a year earlier and about 8% from May.
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Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, gained over 27% on an annual basis, and more than 16% month-on-month.
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As coronavirus lockdown measures ease, global fuel demand has gradually recovered, with road traffic picking up in major cities.
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“The recovery in oil demand should continue in the second half of the year, provided that there are no renewed far-reaching restrictions on public life due to the sharp rise in the number of new infections in some U.S. states and in other major oil-consuming countries such as India,†Commerzbank wrote in a note.
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India has overtaken Russia as the third-most affected country globally and deaths from the virus have surpassed 20,000.
