India's Fuel Demand Hits 9-Month Low In May 2021 Amid COVID-19 Restrictions Petrol, Diesel Sales In May 2021: Sales of petrol, increased by 12.4 per cent from a year earlier, but fell about 17 per cent month-on-month to 1.99 million tonnes. Updated: June 09, 2021 9:29 pm IST State refiners' daily petrol and diesel sales declined by about a fifth in May from a month earlier The country's fuel demand slumped in May to its lowest since August last year with a second COVID-19 wave stalling mobility and muting economic activity in the world's third largest oil consumer. Oil demand fell 11.3 per cent to 15.11 million tonnes compared to the previous month and was down 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry showed on Wednesday.