According to the firm, petrol, diesel, and LPG would continue to be the two main drivers of oil demand growth for the country
New Delhi: India is expected to become the second-largest oil demand growth centre globally in 2019, behind US but ahead of China, research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday.
According to the firm, petrol, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would continue to be the two main drivers of oil demand growth for the country.
“India’s demand growth recovered strongly in 2018, overcoming the aftermath of the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation, and contributing to 14 per cent of the global demand growth or 245,000 barrel per day. We forecast oil demand to grow at the same level in 2019,” said WoodMac.
According to official data analysed by ETEnergyWorld, India’s overall fuel demand grew 4.47 per cent to 210 million tonne (MT) in calendar year 2018, as compared to 201 MT consumed in calendar year 2017.
WoodMac has projected diesel demand to grow 6.4 per cent to 1,12,000 barrels per day in 2019 as compared to 93,000 barrels per day in 2018, primarily on the back of: Robust commercial vehicle sales, increased demand for heavy and medium-duty trucks due to removal of interstate taxes, and increased travel activity due to general elections in May.
The group said that LPG demand growth would remain robust in 2019 at 5 per cent to 40,000 barrels per day, lower than the 56,000 barrels per day growth achieved in 2018.
“The number of new household LPG customers continued to surge, driven by the Ujjwala scheme to promote clean cooking fuel in rural areas. That said, there is a large untapped market, as about 50 million households remain deprived of LPG,” WoodMac said.
According to the firm, electric two-wheelers would dominate the personal electric mobility transport sector.
“We believe that two-wheelers are a more effective option, given their utility in intra-city travel, less need for a public charging infrastructure and availability of battery technology. Two-wheelers will eventually leapfrog four-wheelers towards the goal of a greener and sustainable mobility future,” it said.
According to WoodMac, electric car sales in India declined 40 per cent to a mere 1,200 units in financial year 2018 over financial year 2017, while electric two-wheeler sales rose 138 per cent to 54,800 units during the same period.
Source : The Economic Times
