Gasoil, Gasoline sales up by 6.7% and 7.3% respectively due to lifting of COVID-19 restrictions

The Gasoil and the Gasoline sales by the state fuel refineries were up by 6.7 per cent and 7.3 per cent, respectively from February 1 to 15, 2022, as per a Reuters report.

The first half of February has recorded better sales of India's gasoil and gasoline when compared to the previous months. The better sales figures also indicate a recovery in industrial and consumer demand with the states lifting the COVID-19 restrictions, the Reuters report stated.  

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The data compiled by the state-owned refineries show that the country's Gasoil sales by the state fuel retailers amounted to 2.65 million tonnes from February 1 to 15. The figures are up by 6.7 per cent when compared with the figures of last month for the same time period.

In this context, it must be noted that the Gasoil sales were however down by 6.95 per cent from a year ago and by 14.7 per cent  from the same period in 2020.

"Cargo movement remains brisk with 5-10 per cent more despatch from factory gates across the country," said S.P. Singh, senior fellow at Indian Foundation for Transport Research and Training.

He said consumer spending and the movement of various goods such as electronics, cement and metals were buoyant due to wedding season.
Sales of gasoil, which account for about two-fifths of India`s overall refined fuel consumption, are directly linked to industrial activity in Asia`s third-largest economy.

On the gasoline front, Gasoline sales during February. 1-15 was at 1.04 million tonnes, up by 7.3 per cent from the first fortnight of January and 0.1 per cent from a year ago, as people continued to prefer using personal vehicles over public transport for safety reasons, the data showed.

The state retailers like Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd own about 90 per cent of the country`s retail fuel outlets.

(With Reuters inputs)