The nationwide consumption of diesel, petrol and LPG fell in April 2021 as the second wave of Covid took hold in the country, according to data released from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell on Tuesday.

The diesel consumption fell 7.5 per cent from March 2021 to 6.7 million tonnes, while petrol consumption fell 13 per cent to 2.4 million tonnes. Consumption of LPG similarly fell 6.5 per cent to 2 million tonnes.

Consumption in April 2021 has been higher on a year-on-year basis for petrol, diesel and LPG as the country was under a strict national lockdown during April last year. Comparing April 2021 with April 2019, however, diesel and petrol consumption has slipped 8.8 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.

With the second wave of Covid raging, the state governments in Maharashtra and Delhi had ordered lockdowns starting from the second half of April. “Demand has fallen by approximately 60 per cent. June and July are also generally dull months, and automobile sales are also down, so we are expecting demand to pick up only from August,” said Anuj Gupta, VP Research, IIFL Securities.

Consulting firm FGE estimates diesel demand to dampen in May 2021 by 400,000 barrels a day and petrol demand to fall by 170,000 barrels a day.

Having kept the retail prices stable in April 2021, even as Brent crude had inched upwards, oil marketing companies have begun hiking the rates in May 2021 after completing elections in various states. Coming at a time of record-high prices, the ongoing fuel price hikes are likely to impact demand further.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW