INDIA DATA: June gasoline demand at 3-month high as restrictions ease

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Indian gasoline demand rebounded strongly in June, gaining 25% on the month to a 3-month high of 80,300 mt per day, while diesel deliveries also rose 15.7% to 206,780 mt/day, as easing pandemic restrictions sent drivers back onto the roads.

Consumption of the two road fuels was 8.7% and 16.8% respectively below pre-pandemic June 2019 levels, according to the data released Friday by the Petroleum Production and Analysis Cell.

Jet demand was subdued as expected, dipping a marginal 0.4% on the month to 8,612 mt/day, down 60.2% from 2019.

LPG, fuel oil and petcoke also all saw healthy increases to deliveries that left them above pre-pandemic levels.

LPG demand stood 26.2% over June 2019 at 75,430 mt/day following a 7.9% monthly gain.

Fuel oil rose deliveries 17.3% from May to 17,778 mt/day, up 11.6% from 2019.

A total of 53,458 mt/day of petcoke was delivered in June, up 6.8% on the month and 3.6% from June 2019.

India began to relax restrictions in June, starting with major urban centres where vaccination rates were highest, but a continued increase in cases and the emergence of a new 'Delta-Plus' variant has led authorities to reintroduce lockdown rules in some locations.