The steep decline in fuel consumption due to the Covid-19 lockdown had pulled down India’s refinery production during the month of April by 29 per cent to 14.7 million tonne (MT), from 20.7 MT in April 2019. Similarly, due to lower gas off take by consumers, India’s natural gas production in April 2020 was 19 per cent down, at 2,161 million metric standard cubic meter (mmscm) as against 2,656 mmscm during the same time last financial year.
The decline in natural gas production was also due to force majeure clauses invoked by several consumers. According to industry experts, the consumption of petroleum products in the month of April was only 30-40 per cent of what it had been prior to the lockdown. Due to this, refineries were forced to bring down their capacity too.
