June fuel sales top 2019 levels by a wide margin

NEW DELHI: Gasoline consumption sped previous the pre-pandemic ranges in June by a large margin, pushed by a surge in home tourism, sharp uptick in financial actions and a higher-than-usual seasonal demand from the farm sector owing to a protracted spell of searing heatwave.
Diesel consumption, a bellwether for financial actions, in June was 10.5% greater than the identical month of 2019 and 35% greater than a 12 months in the past, based on provisional gross sales information of state-run retailers, which serve 90% of the market.
Petrol gross sales topped the June 2019 degree by 16.5%, whereas it was virtually 29% greater than the comparative interval of final 12 months.
Diesel demand has been pushed by a resurgence in inter-city journey and freight motion attributable to rising industrial actions. Petrol gross sales have been buoyed by folks’s choice for private automobiles to flee the searing warmth and partly by holidaymakers opting to drive to cooler climes.
The spike in demand has pressured IndianOil, the nation’s largest state-run refiner and gas retailer, to function its refineries at greater than 100% and import petrol and diesel to fill the void left by the closure or curtailment of gross sales by non-public gamers.
Jet gas gross sales continued to recuperate however remained 12% in need of the June 2019 degree, indicating some unfavorable pull as rising prices jack up fares. However gross sales have been 119% greater in comparison with final 12 months, buoyed principally by holidaymakers taking to the skies with a vengeance.
Gross sales of LPG, principally used as family cooking gasoline provided in cylinders, confirmed a achieve of just about 28% over June 2019 however was virtually static eventually 12 months’s degree.