Fuel demand declines in August
The country’s fuel demand in August saw its biggest decline in monthly sales since April because of a surge in coronavirus cases which continue to impact economic activity.
Sales of refined fuels, a proxy for oil demand, fell to 14.39 million tonnes in August, about 16 per cent lower from a year earlier, its sixth consecutive year-on-year slide.
It also fell 7.5 per cent from July, its biggest month-on-month decline after April, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas showed.
Fuel demand had slumped a record 48.6 per cent in April to 9.4 million tonnes as the government imposed a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus. It recovered in the subsequent two months but has been falling again since July, on a monthly basis.
