There has been a sharp jump in the demand for fuel in the country in February. After being ‘cool’ in winter, the increase in consumption of petrol and diesel has been in double digits in the last month. This information has been received from the initial data released on Wednesday by the industry.
Petrol sales of public sector petroleum companies increased by 12 percent to 2.57 million tonnes in February. Due to this, it was 22.9 lakh tonnes in the same month last year.
Petrol sales have been higher by 1.57 per cent as compared to the same month in Covid-affected 2021. At the same time, it has increased by 20 percent as compared to February 2020. Petrol demand has increased by 13.5 percent on month-on-month basis. Due to this, the demand for petrol had decreased by 5.1 percent in the previous month.
Sales of diesel, the most consumed fuel, rose 13 per cent to 6.52 million tonnes in February. Diesel sales have increased by 12.1 percent compared to February 2021 and 7.7 percent compared to the same month of 2020. On a monthly basis, diesel sales stood at 5.97 million tonnes in January.
In this way, the demand for diesel has increased by 9.2 percent on a monthly basis. The movement of trucks in the hilly areas was affected due to snowfall in January. Due to this, on a monthly basis, the sales of diesel in January had decreased by 8.6 percent as compared to the previous month.
Industry sources say there has been a spurt in diesel demand with trucks getting back on the road and rabi sowing season picking up pace. There was another reason for the decline in diesel sales in January as compared to December. Diesel demand was high in December as people traveled for holidays.
With this, the demand for vehicle fuel ATF increased by 41.3 percent year-on-year to 5,74,200 tonnes in February. However, ATF sales have been lower as compared to February, 2020. ATF sales grew by 3.3 percent on a month-on-month basis.
Sources said domestic air travel has reached pre-Covid levels. However, due to restrictions in some countries, international flights are still behind. In February 2023, the sale of cooking gas (LPG) increased by 2.43 percent to reach 25.3 lakh tonnes on an annual basis.
LPG consumption was higher by 12% as compared to February, 2021 and 22.2% as compared to February, 2020. LPG demand grew by 6.14 percent on a monthly basis. LPG consumption in January was 23.8 lakh tonnes.
