Domestic consumption of diesel, petrol, and LPG declined in February, the second straight month of fall in the demand of all the three essential fuels.

LPG consumption fell 9 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 2267 million tonnes, according to provisional figures from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. Petrol consumption fell 6.7 per cent to 2,435 million tonnes. Diesel consumption, which has not yet recovered to pre-Covid levels, fell 3.8 per cent to 6,550 million tonnes.

This is the second straight month since the initial shock of the coronavirus lockdown in April last year that the consumption of these three fuel has fallen together on a month-on-month basis. The consumption of LPG, petrol, and diesel in January had fallen on a month-on-month basis by 2 per cent, 4 per cent, and 5 per cent, respectively.

The drop coincides with the steep rise in prices of these essential fuel throughout January and February. Until January, petrol consumption had been steadily recovering since August last year, while diesel consumption had been on an upward climb since September last year.

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