India’s 2021 oil demand to bounce back by 13% to 4.99 mb/d : OPEC Report
Rebound in economic activities to boost oil demand
Bhubaneswar: Aided by robust rebound in economic activities, India’s oil demand is expected to grow at 13.45 per cent to 4.99 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2021 (January-December), a monthly report by the OPEC said.
“In 2021, in light of an anticipated robust rebound in economic activity, oil demand is projected to bounce back swiftly. This increase is a reflection of positive policy measures promoting increases in private consumption and investment. Taken together with the low 2020 baseline, oil demand is projected to record a historic increase in 2021. Demand for transportation fuel is estimated to lead product demand followed by middle distillates” the OPEC monthly oil market report for February said.
OPEC or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries headed by Saudi Arabia. The OPEC countries produce about 40 per cent of the world’s crude oil.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 and the lockdown, India’s oil demand slipped by 10.5 per cent to 4.39 mb/d from 4.91 mb/d in 2019. So, the low 2020 baseline is also one of the reasons for the high projected growth rate in 2021.
“A quick review of India’s 2020 oil demand data shows a decline of 0.5 mb/d compared to 2019, with diesel recording the steepest decline, followed by jet kerosene and gasoline. In contrast, LPG showed a positive increase on the back of gains in residential usage throughout the year. The second quarter registered the largest demand decline ever recorded in India with a drop of 1.2 mb/d compared to a year earlier, mainly due to the stringent lockdown and mobility restriction measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, which severely impacted demand for petroleum fuels as a result” the report read.
