According to preliminary data released by state-owned companies on Friday, India’s demand for jet fuel in February soared above pre-pandemic levels as more people travelled by air. Comparing February of this year to the same month last year, sales of aviation turbine fuel by three state-owned fuel retailers increased by 7.1% to 6,32,600 tonnes. This came in slightly better than the 6,32,100 tonnes demanded in February 2020, just before the pandemic struck, and 55.2% higher than the consumption in February 2022 marred by COVID-19. The data revealed a 3.5% increase in jet fuel sales monthly.

Fuel sales in India fell by as much as 60% shortly after the country was placed under a strict lockdown in late March 2020, preventing travel and business operations. With more people using personal vehicles, gasoline consumption was the first to recover to pre-Covid levels in late 2021, while diesel sales did the same in mid-2022.

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Since not all international flights were resumed, jet fuel or ATF levels stayed below pre-Covid levels. However, the monthly consumption has surpassed pre-pandemic levels due to more flights leaving and more people walking around.

Compared to the same period last year, the demand for diesel increased slightly by 0.4% to 6.55 million tonnes. Still, the sales of gasoline, which accounts for 90% of the fuel market, skyrocketed by 7.2% to 2.75 million tonnes in February. These three state-owned companies control 90% of the fuel market.

The need for air conditioning decreased due to the winter months in northern India. Petrol sales increased 6.2% month over month compared to January’s consumption of 2.59 million tonnes. In addition, the demand for diesel increased by 7.2% every month compared to 6.11 million tonnes in January. Diesel is India’s most widely used fuel, making up nearly 40% of all petroleum product consumption. Seventy per cent of diesel sales in the nation are attributed to the transportation industry. Over the past few months, fuel consumption has fluctuated, going up in one month and down in another.

Petrol consumption in February 2022 was 20% higher than in February 2022, marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was 29.3% higher than in February 2020 before the pandemic. In February 2022, diesel consumption increased by 13.6%, while in February 2020, it increased by 7.4%.

Sales of cooking gas LPG increased 6.6% to 2.71 million tonnes in February compared to last year. February 2022 LPG consumption was 9.5% higher than February 2020 pre-Covid and 25.9% higher than February 2022 pre-Covid. According to the data, LPG demand increased by 1.4% monthly compared to 2.67 million tonnes of LPG consumed in January.