Petrol sales up 36 per cent, diesel 20 per cent in June
Sales for petrol, diesel, jet fuel and cooking gas rose a combined 16 per cent in June from May as the lockdown restrictions eased in the country but were still 14 per cent lower than the sales in the same month last year. The demand for diesel, which makes up 40 per cent of the country’s total oil demand, was 20 per cent higher in June than May, indicating increased long-haul transportation and rising economic activity. The sales, however, were still 17 per cent less than in June 2019. Petrol sales soared 36 per cent in June from May but were 15 per cent lower than the year-ago period. Jump in consumption of petrol, mostly used by cars and bikes for shorter distances, means more people came out of their homes and drove to their workplaces in June, an industry executive said. The recovery in transportation fuel demand has been sharper than initially expected partly because the public transport is not fully operational yet in most places, forcing commuters to use private vehicles, the executive said. The demand for jet fuel is also returning, albeit slowly, with the resumption of domestic flights. Jet fuel sales in June rose 83 per cent over May but were down 67 per cent from a year ago. Addition of new domestic flights and resumption of international flights could further push up jet fuel demand, the executive said. The demand for cooking gas, or the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fell 9 per cent from May but was up 17 per cent from June last year. The data is for sales by state fuel retailers who control about 90 per cent of the market. The oil demand is expected to rise further in July as more factories and offices open and more vehicles get on the road. Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest refiner, expects its refinery run rate to rise to 100 per cent by July-end from the current 90 per cent.
India’s fuel demand continues to recover in June
Indian state-refiners’ gasoline and gasoil sales rose in June compared with May, continuing with a gradual recovery as the nation relaxed lockdown aimed at stemming spread of COVID-19, provisional sales data showed on Wednesday. State-retailers’ gasoline sales in June rose by about 36 per cent from May to about 2.04 million tonnes. Sales of gasoil, which accounts for about two-fifths of the country’s overall fuel sales, rose by about 20 per cent in June compared with May to 5.54 million tonnes, provisional sales data showed. However, gasoline and gasoil sales in June are still down by about 15 per cent and 17.1 per cent respectively from a year earlier. Fuel consumption- a proxy for oil demand in Asia’s third largest economy- plunged to the lowest since 2007 in April as the country came to a standstill due to the lockdown that was put in place on March 24. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan last week said fuel demand could normalise by end-September. State companies Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum own about 90 per cent of the retail fuel outlets in India. The sources who provided the provisional industry data asked not to be identified citing confidentiality. Sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rose nearly 17 per cent in June from a year ago while jet fuel declined by 67.3 per cent during the same period.
Petrol, diesel prices go for a longer pause; LPG, ATF rises
Fuel prices seem to have gone for a longer pause after rising for 22 of the past 25 days as oil marketing companies (OMC) kept the pump prices of petrol and diesel unchanged again on Wednesday. In the national capital, petrol price on Wednesday stood at Rs 80.43 per litre and diesel at Rs 80.53 a litre, same level as Tuesday when OMCs wend for pause and kept the prices unchanged over previous day. Sources in public sector oil companies said that consumers could get relief from the regular price rise of the two petroleum products in coming days as the pause on Tuesday and Wednesday could be replicated in several of the coming days due to softening of global oil prices. Also, the oil companies have covered most of the shortfall arising when for 82 continuous days (from March 14 to June 6) petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged while government substantially raised taxes on the products. Starting from June 7, petrol price has increased by Rs 9.17 and diesel by Rs 11.14 in the national capital. In the other cities the magnitude of increase was similar. For the last six to seven days, the quantum of daily increase has fallen from 60 paise per litre to less than 20 paise per litre. With global oil prices remaining around $40 a barrel, any fall in oil prices now may result in fuel consumers actually getting the benefit of a cut on petrol and diesel prices. In another development, the OMCs marginally increased the price of 14.2 kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder by Rs 1 in Delhi, effective Wednesday. The price of non-subsidised LPG in Delhi will now be Rs 594 per cylinder as against Rs 593 on June 1. Prices were up by Rs 4 in other metros mostly because of different local sales tax or VAT rate. The oil companies also revised upwards the price of aviation turbine fuel by about 7.5 per cent to Rs 41,992.81 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). The ATF prices increased twice in June by a record 56.6 per cent or Rs 12,126.75 per kl on June 1, and by Rs 5,494.5 per kl or 16.3 per cent increase on June 16. The increase in July is by Rs 2,922.94 per kl.
S M Vaidya takes over as Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest fuel retailer, today announced Shrikant Madhav Vaidya has taken over as the new Chairman of the company today. He will also be the Chairman of Chennai Petroleum Corporation, a refining subsidiary, and Indian Oiltanking Ltd, a joint venture. He will also be on the board of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd, a joint venture setting up fertiliser plants. Vaidya, who is on the board of Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd, will take over as its Chairman and will also be Director on the Board of Petronet LNG Ltd. Prior to his elevation, Vaidya has been Director (Refineries) on the IndianOil Board since October 2019. He succeeds Mr Sanjiv Singh who has superannuated from the services of the Corporation yesterday. Vaidya is a chemical engineer from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and has over 34 years of experience in refining & petrochemicals operations. He has had a decade-long association with India’s largest cracker plant – the Panipat Naphtha Cracker Complex, a major driver of IndianOil’s petrochemicals business. “Mr Vaidya has always laid emphasis on ensuring smooth supply of products, eco-friendly business operations and healthy refining margins. During his tenure as Director (Refineries) and earlier as Executive Director (Refinery Operations) at IndianOil, he presided over several refinery expansion and petrochemical projects,” the company said in a statement. He is also credited for the timely rollout of BS-VI grade auto fuels across the country and commencing the supply of IMO-compliant bunker fuel with 0.5 per cent Sulphur and a special winter-grade diesel for high-altitude regions of the Himalayas.