India’s fuel demand grew by 10.5% in November from a year earlier, its fastest pace since January 2018, driven by higher consumption of transport fuels gasoil and gasoline, and cooking gas. Consumption of refined fuels, a proxy for oil demand in Asia’s third largest economy, totalled 18.77 million tonnes in the month, preliminary data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed. Diesel consumption, which accounts for about two-fifths of India’s overall refined fuel demand, reversed the declining trend of the previous three months and rose by 8.8% to 7.55 million tonnes in November from a year earlier, also its highest rate since January 2018, the data showed. Sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 9% from a year earlier to 2.53 million tonnes. Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 23.4% to 2.27 million tonnes and sales of naphtha rose 2.5% to 1.25 million tonnes in November. Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were 12% higher, while fuel oil use dipped 2% in November, the data showed.

(Economic Times)