India’s oil demand grew for a fourth month in March, although the pace of gains slowed from February as falling vehicle sales weighed on transportation fuel consumption even amid campaigning for federal elections.
Total usage of oil products rose 1.3 per cent year by year to 18.9 m tons in March, according to the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell. Demand in the FY through March increased by 2.7 per cent year by year.
Key Insights
Indian passenger vehicle sales grew 2.7 per cent year by year in the financial year ended March, the slowest expansion since 2014, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers; it sees 3 per cent - 5 per cent growth in the current fiscal year Oil demand growth in 2019 may miss the International Energy Agency’s estimate of 245,000 barrels a day, Kunal Agrawal, a senior industry analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in an April 12 note.
"Growth in gasoline and diesel usage may remain sluggish due to continued weak motor vehicle sales, weighing on overall oil products demand growth, he wrote Rising crude prices and a slowdown in economic growth may also weigh on Indian oil consumption," Nomura said in an April 12 note.