According to a recently released report, India is expected to overtake China to become the world’s second-largest oil demand growth centre in 2019, reports Economic Times (ET).

Increased fuel demand in India will be powered by auto and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumption. The report, published by research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie, stated that the demand for oil in India was strong in 2018 and the country contributed 14 per cent of the global demand growth or 2,5,000 barrels per day.

“We forecast oil demand to grow at the same level in 2019. This will result in India becoming the second largest demand growth centre globally in 2019, behind the US but ahead of China. Transport fuels – gasoline and diesel – and residential LPG will continue to be the two main drivers of oil demand growth,” said the report.

The report added that demand for diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country, will grow by 6.4 per cent or 112,000 bpd year-on-year in 2019.

This heightened demand was the result of “buoyant” commercial vehicle sales facilitated by sustained infrastructure growth, and increasing demand from the construction, logistics, e-commerce and consumer goods sectors.

Stating that LPG demand in 2019 will remain robust at 5 per cent, the report noted: “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 largely untapped market, as around 50 million households remain deprived of LPG.”

No Demand For Electric Cars?

Electric car sales in India have plunged by 40 per cent in FY18 as compared to FY17. A total of only 1,200 units were sold in the year. However, the sales of electric two-wheelers increased in the same period.

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