The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has compiled data showing that India’s natural gas consumption increased 7.1% in June of this year to 5,594 million metric standard cubic meters (MMSCM) compared to the same month last year.
This increase is attributed to an increase in the number of households using the fuel for cooking as well as an increase in demand in the urban transport sector.
Although domestic gas output increased by 2.9% to 2,993 MMSCM in the month, meeting some of the increasing demand, imports increased by as much as 11.3% in the same period.
In an effort to fulfill the growing demand for green fuel, the gas companies have been growing their network.
The rise in natural gas usage for the April–June quarter is 3.8% year over year when compared to the same period last year. During the quarter, domestic production increased 5.7%, while imports increased by 0.6%.
June saw a 2.6% increase in the use of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, reaching 20 million metric tons (MMT).
For the April-June period, the growth in consumption was 3.4 per cent. There was a 11.4 per cent increase in consumption of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as airlines have been expanding operations to cater to the growing air passenger traffic in the country. The consumption of petrol rose 7.1 per cent during the month, while diesel sales increased by 1.6 per cent and LPG sales went up by 5 per cent, the figures showed.
Crude oil imports fell 5.6 per cent year-on-year to 18.5 million metric tons in June, but the import bill rose by 11 per cent to $11.1 billion during the month due to higher prices in the international market that surged past the $82 per barrel mark during the month. This had also prompted the government to raise the windfall tax on crude oil levied on domestic companies ONGC and Oil India Ltd.
