Monthly petroleum consumption has picked up a bit when looked at the monthly trend, and year-on-year trend recently. The growth is more noticeable on a month-on-month basis during May 24. However, overall, the OMC sales remain weak.
Sales by the oil marketing companies during May 24 saw a rise of 7 percent year-on-year and a jump of 26 percent month-on-month to 1.39 million tons. The monthly volumes sold by the oil marketing sector were the highest in 9 months. The volumetric sales are largely made up of high-speed diesel, motor gasoline, and furnace oil. The monthly growth in volumes was primarily led by a surge in diesel volumes.
For May, motor gasoline sales were up by just one percent year-on-year; however, the month-on-month growth was around 15 percent, which could be due to a decline in petrol prices during May versus April. Furnace oil sales remained weak on a year-on-year basis – falling by 24 percent. Month-on-month, FO sales however jumped up by more than two times – primarily due to lower base as well as higher demand for black fuel from the power sector with the onset of the summer season. The growth driver in OMC volumes was HSD which grew by 18 percent year-on-year and 37 percent month-on-month. Besides the ongoing peak harvesting season, the rise in HSD sales was also due to a weak base in FY23 versus FY24 and a crackdown on smuggled fuel.
Overall OMC volumes stood at 13.8 million tonnes for 11MFY24, still lower by 9 percent year-on-year with a fall in all categories; the volumetric sales of MS, HSD, and FO fell by 5 percent, 2 percent, and 50 percent year-on-year, respectively.
The last month of FY24 might see a similar growth trend in volumes for OMCs due to the abovementioned factors boosted further by lower petroleum product prices but also offset by lower number of operating days due to Eid–ul–Azha.
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