India's fuel demand rises 5.7% YoY in February on strong factory output
fuel consumption rose 5.7% year-on-year in February, government data showed on Thursday, helped by strong factory activity in the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer.
Total consumption, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 19.72 million metric tons (4.98 million barrels per day) in February, up from 18.66 million tons last year, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.
Demand was up about 5.1% on a daily basis from the 4.74 mbpd (20.04 million metric tons) consumed in January.
«The increase month-on-month in fuel consumption is yet another tour de force of the Indian economy, a sign of how strong demand growth has been in recent months,» said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler.
"Diesel demand is almost guaranteed to hit a new record this year(in June), surpassing the 2 mbpd mark for the first time in history."
Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks and commercially run passenger vehicles, rose by 6.2% year-on-year to 7.44 million tons in February. They were up about 6.8% month-on-month to 1.88 mbpd on a per-day basis.
India's manufacturing industry enjoyed robust growth in February with activity expanding at its fastest pace in five months, led by accelerated global demand and lower inflationary pressures, a private survey last week showed.
Sales of gasoline in February rose 8.9% from the previous year to 3.02 million tons.
Meanwhile, Indian automakers continued to report a steady rise in sales in February, helped by demand for two-wheelers and
