Signs of revival: First-quarter oil demand grows fastest in 10 years

Here’s a bit of good news for the NDA government, battling skepticism over its growth figures. The first-quarter oil demand growth in the country has hit a 10-year high indicating a recovery may be indeed round the corner. An increase in oil demand denotes a consumption revival in the economy. [caption id=“attachment_2891942” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] According to the data available on the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, consumption of petroleum products in April-June quarter has grown 7.8 percent on year, the fastest growth in the last 10 years, to 48.5 million tonnes. Petrol consumption during the period went up by 10 percent to 5.9 million tonnes and diesel 4.7 percent to 20 million tonnes. The growth assumes significance as April-June is usually a poor quarter for oil demand in India due to monsoon, which, among other factors, reduces diesel consumption by the agriculture sector. “We have seen acceleration in India’s oil demand as income levels improve and with infrastructure building picking up pace,” Richard Mallinson, a geopolitical analyst at Energy Aspects, has been quoted as saying in a report in Bloomberg, which first noticed the trend. Last fiscal, the first quarter demand growth stood at 6.6 percent. The next three quarters the oil consumption grew 11-14.7 percent. In April, Bloomberg had reported that India’s thirst for oil is fast overtaking that of China’s. Citing International Energy Agency, the Bloomberg report said it is expected to surpass Japan as the world’s third-largest oil user this year. By 2040, India will be the “fastest-growing crude consumer” in the world. The main driver behind the growth is the thrust on manufacturing India has, a policy China is not pursuing now, the report said. Data by Kishor Kadam