IOC sees fuel demand back to normal faster than expected

NEW DELHI: IndianOil Corporation (IOC) expects fuel demand back at pre-Covid levels faster than expected but the company is still looking at pacing refinery expansion in step with muted consumption in some sector, chairman S M Vaidya told reporters on Monday.
IOC’s petrol and diesel sales saw “phenomenal improvement in the first half of September” and if the trend continues demand will return to pre-COVID levels within a quarter, he said but declined to project a timeline for jet fuel consumption to normalise.
He said IOC is reviewing refinery expansion plans to maximise profits by leverage available flexibility to tune output according to demand.
Referring to BP’s recent demand outlook, Vaidya said it shows India’s appetite for energy will be there. “It has only been deferred,” he said and added that the focus for the time being will be on brownfield expansion instead of new projects.