India transport fuel demand falls 1m bpd amid Covid infections: data

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Indian demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel collapsed by between 55% to 64% in the first half of May compared with March levels, amid localised restrictions to combat a huge second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Gasoline demand was 443,877 barrels per day (bpd) in the period May 1-15, according to media reports citing preliminary data from state-owned refiners and calculations by Quantum, 60% down on March's figure, which stood at 736,000 bpd.

The fall for diesel consumption was worse, standing at 1.1 million bpd in the first two weeks of May, down 63% on March's average daily consumption of 1.736 million bpd.

Jet fuel demand collapsed to 66,000 bpd over the period, down 55% on March's figure of 121,000 bpd.

The figures mean that consumption of the three main transport fuels have fallen by 984,000 bpd.

That compares with estimates that oil liquid demand could fall by 1.6 million bpd in May, although this includes more fuels.

The fall-off in demand has hit gasoline cracks hard over the past few weeks, with the FOB Singapore RON 92 spot crack versus front-month Brent crude falling by 33% in the past four weeks, according to Quantum data.

But while demand has remained depressed, the figures remain well above the April 2020 consumption rates, when the world's fourth-largest oil consumer and third-largest importer, was in a national lockdown.

Diesel demand then was 800,000 bpd, down almost 30% on this month's levels so far, gasoline was at 270,000 bpd, down 40% on current levels, and jet fuel was virtually non-existent at 14,000 bpd, down around almost 80% on this month's levels.

India's covid infection rate has started to fall, although remains stubbornly high, with 311,000 infections reported on Saturday.

That compares with a seven-day rolling average of 341,000 infections.