india: India’s July petrol, diesel sales drop as monsoon hurts fuel demand

With heavy rains wreaking havoc across the country, India’s petrol and diesel sales declined in the first half of July, compared to the first half of June.

As travel demand dropped between July 1 and July 16, fuel sales too took a hit. Daily sales of diesel fell by 19.7% to about 2.96 million metric tons in July compared with June, data showed.

The drop is in keeping with consumer trends for the monsoon, with consumption typically dropping in the monsoon season due to widespread floods across the subcontinent. Demand from the agriculture sector also gets affected in this period due to fewer irrigation-related requirements.

State retailers’ diesel sales were further hit as private refiner Reliance Industries Ltd is selling the fuel at cheaper rates.

Government retailers’ – Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum – daily petrol sales were down by 10.8% month-on-month in July at around 1.26 million metric tons, data showed.

As passenger traffic at airports continues to rise, demand for jet fuel (ATF) rose 6.1% to 301,800 tonnes during this period, as compared to the same period last year. It was more than double that of the first half of July 2021.Month-on-month jet fuel sales fell 6.7% when compared with 323,500 tonnes in June 1-15, 2023.For the year, India’s oil demand is forecast at 0.2 million barrels per day year-on-year, according to oil cartel OPEC’s monthly oil bulletin.

With inputs from Agencies