Total consumption, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 20.04 million tonnes in January, up from 18.51 million tonnes last year, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.
Month-on-month petrol sales dropped 4.9 per cent when compared to 2.86 million tonnes consumption in November. Diesel demand too was down 0.8 per cent month-on-month when compared to 6.79 million tonnes in November.
The decrease in petrol and diesel sales in India during December can be attributed to the onset of winter, which led to a decline in air-conditioning demand. Petrol sales of the three state-owned firms fell by 1.4% compared to the previous year, while diesel demand dropped by 7.8%. Despite this, petrol consumption in December 2023 was 7.1% higher than in December 2021 and 21.5% higher than in December 2019.
India is set to get more channels to buy cheap Russian oil, with a new wave of smaller, international traders muscling into its vast market by offering barrels shunned by rivals after the invasion of Ukraine.
Crude oil imports increased to 19.57 million tonnes, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell on Wednesday. However, crude imports decreased by about 9.1% from April.