INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
declined by about a fifth in May from a month earlier as lockdowns to curb the second deadly wave of COVID-19 hit industrial activities and
consumption, preliminary data showed on Tuesday
Daily petrol sales in May fell by about 19 per cent from April while diesel consumption, which is linked to industrial activity and accounts
for over two-fifths of the country's fuel demand, fell by 19.9 per cent, data compiled by state refiners showed.The country's factory
activity growth slowed significantly in May as a rise in coronavirus cases whacked new orders and output, the Nikkei Manufacturing
demand in May, said an official at one of the refiners
He hoped fuel consumption would soon start improving as the number of infections is declining and states are gradually easing
restrictions.India's official tally of daily infections of coronavirus fell to the lowest in nearly six weeks to 196,427 in the past 24
Indian fuel demand had recovered to near pre-pandemic levels in March but has been sliding since April owing to a resurgence in infections,
prompting Indian refiners to cut crude processing and imports.Consultancy Rystad Energy expects India's refinery runs to fall to 4.2
million barrels per day (bpd) during May, a 600,000-bpd decrease from its previous forecast."After showing surprising resilience during
April, we expect India's refinery runs to drop by 700,000 bpd month-on-month in May as refiners will have to adjust throughput to respond
to the imminent demand destruction," Rystad said.State companies - Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd -
own about 90 per cent of India's retail fuel outlets
India's preliminary daily fuel sales data with volumes in thousand tonnes:ProductMay-21Apr-21% ChangeMay-20% ChangeMay-19%
ChangePetrol57.971.4-1951.312.980.5-28.1Diesel157.8197.1-19.9155.61.4225.5-30Jet
Fuel9.212.7-27.93.5164.220.8-55.8LPG69.770.3-0.874.3-6.265.76
