NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) - India s Covid-19 crisis has pummeled demand for transport fuels to the lowest in several months, highlighting the risks for energy consumption amid an uneven global recovery from the pandemic.
April sales of gasoline - used in cars and motorcycles - fell to 2.14 million tons, the lowest since August, according to preliminary data from officials with direct knowledge of the matter. Sales of diesel, a bellwether for economic activity, was a tad higher last month than February, which had two fewer days. Average daily sales of the nation s most-used fuel in April were the lowest since October.
Huge rise in coronavirus cases hit April fuel demand
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The deadly second wave topped 400,000 new daily cases for the first time on Saturday. Authorities reported 401,993 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily count globally, after 10 consecutive days over 300,000. Deaths from COVID-19 jumped by 3,523, taking the total toll in India to 211,853.
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Petrol and diesel sales have fallen 4% and 10%, respectively, in April compared to the same month in 2019 following local lockdowns that have restricted mobility and economic activity.
Fuel demand is, however, sharply up from last year’s low base when a nationwide lockdown hammered sales. The demand for petrol is up 146% and that for diesel is up 108% from last April, according to executives from state-run fuel retailers, which control about 90% of the fuel retail market.
IndiaHuge rise in coronavirus cases hit India s April fuel demand
Nidhi Verma
3 minute read
A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
Indian state refiners local fuel sales in April declined due to state-level restrictions aimed at stemming a rampant second wave of coronavirus infections, preliminary data shows.
The deadly second wave topped 400,000 new daily cases for the first time on Saturday.
Authorities reported 401,993 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily count globally, after 10 consecutive days over 300,000. Deaths from COVID-19 jumped by 3,523, taking the total toll in India to 211,853. read more
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: Mixed run rates in Asia-Pacific
The BPCL Mumbai refinery on the west coast of India is currently running at full capacity even as partial lockdown has been introduced in many parts of the western region. It recorded a 118% run rate in March compared with 116% a year ago, while the run rate for 2019-20 (April-March) was 95%, compared with 115% in 2019-20, reflecting the impact of lockdown in 2020.
However, India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. in March ran at 84% at its two refineries at the Jamnagar integrated refinery complex, down from 96% a year earlier, with overall runs still to attain pre-pandemic levels. In March, the domestic refinery ran at 101%, compared with 108% a year earlier, while the export-focused refinery ran at 69%, from 84% in the year-ago month.
4 oil & gas PSUs exceed capex targets, spend Rs 57,000 crore in FY21
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State-run oil and gas companies accelerated project execution in later months, mobilizing contractors, workers, and equipment to project sites after facing a serious slowdown in the initial months of the last fiscal year due to a nationwide lockdown imposed to stem the spread of Covid.
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GAIL spent a combined Rs 57,000 crore in 2020-21, exceeding their respective capex targets in a year lockdown curbed movement, drove away workers from project sites, and disrupted supply chains.
State-run oil and gas companies accelerated project execution in later months, mobilizing contractors, workers, and equipment to project sites after facing a serious slowdown in the initial months of the last fiscal year due to a nationwide lockdown imposed to stem the spread of Covid.