India’s gasoline demand hitting record
India's gasoline demand is set to hit a record this fiscal year, with consumption accelerating as more people hit the road for business and leisure travel after easing of Covid-19 curbs.
Shunning trains, buses and planes, safety-conscious Indians are buying more cars and increasingly using personal vehicles to commute as they embark on 'revenge travel' - flocking to tourist destinations after months of restrictions, despite record high fuel prices.
Annual passenger vehicle sales in India rose by 45 per cent to 264,442 units in July, driven by pent-up demand, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
The stronger-than-expected gasoline consumption growth could prompt Indian refiners to import the fuel or boost gasoil exports in coming months. Indian refineries are traditionally configured to maximise production of diesel, where demand is still below pre-Covid levels, hurt by an uneven economic recovery.
"We may have to import some quantity of petrol if momentum in demand continues," said an official at an Indian state-run refiner, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
"We cannot increase crude throughput as some refiners have high levels of diesel inventory and export margins for diesel are not attractive."
The expected rise in India's gasoline imports could support Asian refiners' margins for the fuel. The country, which has a refining surplus, has shunned gasoline imports since May and raised gasoil exports by a fifth in July from April, government data showed.
Sluggish diesel demand has forced some refiners to cut crude oil processing as their fuel storage were full. That reduced India's July crude oil imports to their lowest in a year
Source: www.thedailystar.net
