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India's fuel demand in May hit highest in over a year
June 6 (Reuters) - India's fuel demand rose to 21.32 million metric tons in May, its highest in more than a year, Oil Ministry data showed on Friday.
India is the world's third-largest consumer and importer of oil. The data is a proxy for the country's oil demand.
On a yearly basis, fuel demand in May was up 5.7% from the previous month and 1.1% from 21.08 million tons in the same month last year, the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell's website showed.
Sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 9.6% to 3.78 million tons, compared with 3.45 million tons last month, and were up 9.2% from levels a year ago.
Diesel consumption in May climbed 4% month-on-month to 8.59 million tons, and up 2.1% from year-ago levels.
Cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas, sales increased 10.4% on an annual basis to 2.66 million tons, while naphtha sales fell 8.3% compared with last year to 1.0 million tons.
On a monthly basis, LPG and naphtha sales rose 5.6% and 7.5%, respectively.
Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, remained largely unchanged in May, compared with April.
"Looking at product details, Indian demand saw strong growth for gasoline and aviation fuel, which speaks for mobility as the key factor supporting demand growth. Diesel demand expanded at a solid pace as well, but less than the first two," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
"Assume weakness in the petrochemical sector is the main factor weighing on naphtha demand."
India's private sector activity accelerated at its fastest pace in over a year in May, driven by expansion in services even as price pressures intensified, a survey showed.
Several petrochemical producers in Asia plan to reconfigure their crackers to process more ethane to reduce costs and capitalise on rising U.S. supplies as they face thin margins and global oversupply, company executives said in May.
