NEW DELHI: Fuel demand rose to a three-year high in March, with petrol sales hitting an all-time peak, as the market accumulated supplies foreseeing price spikes, despite which the outlook for the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery remains promising.
Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, rose 4.2% from the same month last year to 19.41 million tonnes, its highest since March 2019, according to the country’s oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell data as on April 9.
“March oil demand was strongly supported by stockpiling activity/hoarding in anticipation of a rise in petrol and diesel prices in the later part of the month,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
