India’s economy is suffering its worst cyclical downturn for more than a decade, which is weighing heavily on global oil consumption, and until the economy improves, prices are unlikely to see a sustained increase.
If the monetary and fiscal stimulus succeeds in pushing the economy out of its current trough, faster growth would play an important role in rebalancing the oil market in 2020.
Between 2008 and 2018, India’s oil consumption increased at an annual average rate of just over 5% or an extra 200,000 barrels per day each year (“Statistical Review of World Energy”, BP, 2019).
The South Asian giant accounted for 15% of all the growth in petroleum consumption worldwide over the last decade. Only China was a more important source of incremental demand.
