Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the oil ministry shows sale of fuel products by oil marketing firms (OMCs) grew 2.8 per cent to 13.41 million tonne in December from the year ago month.
Of this, sale of diesel constituted 6.13 million tonne, which is 4.4 per cent higher than December 2011. Diesel consumption makes up over 40 per cent of local fuel sales. Sale of diesel in December improved over November when the fuel’s demand rose an annual 1.75 per cent.
The rise in diesel demand is attributed to the cold wave in the north of the country which increases demand for diesel-fired generators.
Despite paring its fuel demand estimates for the year, India raised its forecast for diesel consumption growth to 8.3 per cent up from a prior forecast of 5.9 per cent.
According to analysts and industry players, the sale of diesel may not be affected by the government’s plan to hike the price of the fuel gradually.
Gasoline consumption growth in December eased to an annual 0.7 per cent to 1.35 million tonne in December, when car sales fell by 12.5 per cent, a second straight month of declines.
Sale of naphtha rose 22.4 per cent from a year earlier to 1.05 million tonne during December 2012, while that of kerosene fell 8 per cent to 625,000 tonne.
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