Fuel Demand Reaches An 11-Month High In December 2020

Fuel demand reaches an 11-month high in December 2020. Fuel consumption reached an 11-month high in December as economic activities resumed in the country.

Fuel demand in the country has increased for the fourth consecutive month in December. However, it is still two percent lower than the level before the corona virus epidemic.

According to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the Ministry of Petroleum.

In December 2020, the total demand for petroleum products decreased on an annual basis to 18.5 million tonnes. It was 18.8 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

Fuel consumption has increased for the fourth consecutive month on a monthly basis in December, due to the easing of restrictions on transport and business activities.

The fuel consumption in the country in November 2020 was 18.7 million tonnes. Talking about petrol, its consumption had reached the level before the corona virus epidemic in September.

Diesel consumption was normal in October. However, diesel demand declined again in November. After this, the demand for diesel has also come down in the month of December.

The demand for diesel increased by 7.4 percent on an annual basis in October. It declined to 6.9 percent in November and 2.7 percent in December to 71.8 lakh tons.

However, there has been a slight improvement in diesel demand on a monthly basis. It was 70.4 lakh tonnes in November.

At the same time, fuel demand was down by 49 percent in April. Fuel consumption has started increasing since the start of the festive season.

But due to public transport not becoming completely normal, there was no complete recovery in demand for fuel.

In December, the demand for naphtha used as industrial fuel for power generation and in petrochemical production declined by 2.67 percent to 12.3 lakh.

However, consumption of bitumen used in road construction increased by 20 per cent to 7,61,000 tonnes in December.

Apart from this, the demand for LPG increased by 7.4 percent to 2.53 million tonnes in December. LPG is the only fuel whose demand was increased even in lockdown