Spain's May road fuel demand bounces back 9.6% after restrictions ease

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Spain's road fuel demand increased 9.6% on the month to 2.272 million mt in May, as the country ended its state of emergency and journey figures recovered, but remained 9.5% below the pre-pandemic 2019 monthly figure, said Spanish government data released Wednesday.

Kerosene consumption was also 25.4% up from April at 176,000 mt, but down 71% from May 2019, according to the preliminary figures from the Strategic Reserves Corporation of Petroleum Products (CORES).

Gasoline benefited most from the uptick in travel, rising 14.6% from April to 432,000 mt, while diesel gained 8.5% on the month to 1.84 million mt.

This left demand for the road fuels down 5.3% and 10.4% respectively from May 2019.

Toll road data from global toll road operator Atlantia also showed usage of its 1,100 km of Spanish roads recovered sharply after Prime Minister Sánchez ended the state of emergency on May 9, moving from 19.2% below the 2019 level to 4.5% below the following week and an average of 3.6% below in the second half of the month.

The latest figures from Atlantia showed June toll road travel at an average of 8.8% below the 2019 level, while Google personal mobility data indicated daily journeys in the month to June 26 were on average 1.8% higher than a January 2020 baseline, compared to an average of 4.8% below in May.