Diesel demand remains low in September; Petrol sees 8% surge over pre-pandemic levels

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Rains played a spoiler for the sales of diesel in the first fortnight of this month, while the demand for petrol during the same period rose by 8% compared to the same period of pre-pandemic level (September 2019).

Petrol sales rose by 5.7% compared to the same period of 2020 and by 3.4% than the first fortnight of August, the Economic Times reported quoting the sales data. The increase in demand for petrol was due to the free movement of vehicles, both commercial and private, after the unlocking across states as the Covid-19 cases subsided.

The demand for Diesel was found to be almost 7% lower than during the same period in the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and 1.5% lower than last year.

Some experts claimed the sluggish demand in diesel was a seasonal thing, given how the movement of goods is somewhat restricted during the rainy season. The demand of diesel during monsoons usually drops as rains dry out the demand of running irrigation pumps from the farm sector and construction activities even in large infrastructure projects are also hampered, the ET report mentioned quoting experts.

Domestic tourism driving jet fuel demand

However some surprise was in store as far as sales data of jet fuel is concerned. Its demand was found to have risen by 29% compared to the previous year and 8.7% compared to the same month last year, given how 2021 saw resurgence in domestic tourism. Though the demand was way below (41%) of what was recorded in the pre-pandemic period in 2019.

The consumption of LPG, which is also supplied as household cooking gas, topped the pre-pandemic level by nearly 15%, though its growth seemed somewhat slow at 2% compared to 2020 and 9% higher than the previous month.

According to Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of the country’s largest fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation, by Diwali the demand for motor fuels would top the pre-pandemic level in the next quarter, though he claimed that recovery in the demand of jet fuel could take a bit more time, the ET report quoted.