India's fuel demand dips to lowest in over two years in Sept: Govt data

India's fuel demand slipped to its lowest in over two years in September after a fall in diesel and industrial fuel consumption negated the rise in petrol and LPG consumption.
Consumption of petroleum products in September dropped to 16.01 million tonnes, its lowest since July 2017, from 16.06 million tonnes in the same month last year, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

Diesel, the most used fuel in the country, saw demand drop by 3.2 per cent to 5.8 million tonnes, while naphtha sales were down by a quarter to 844,000 tonnes.
Bitumen, used in road construction, too saw consumption drop by 7.3 per cent to 343,000 tonnes. Fuel oil sales edged 3.8 per cent lower in September to 525,000 tonnes.
These downward trends negated the rise in cooking gas (LPG) and petrol demand.
The sale of petrol rose 6.2 per cent to 2.37 million tonnes, but sale of jet fuel or ATF fell 1.6 per cent to 666,000 tonnes.
LPG consumption surged 6 per cent to 2.18 million tonnes on the back of government's push for the use of cleaner fuel in household kitchens in rural areas in place of firewood to check pollution and safeguard the health of women.
Kerosene, which is fast being replaced by LPG and natural gas as a cooking medium, saw demand fall almost 38 per cent to 176,000 tonnes.
Petroleum coke consumption was however 18 per cent higher at 1.73 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, Fitch Solutions revised downward its India oil demand forecast, reflecting a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop and rising risks to growth.
"We now forecast demand growth to average 3.8 per cent y-o-y over the three years to 2021, down from 4.6 per cent previously," it said, adding softening of Indian fuel demand adds to an increasingly bearish outlook for fuel demand globally.
"We had previously flagged India as the outperformer, forecast to overtake China as the global engine for growth. While the view still holds in the longer term, the near-term prospects have weakened," it said.
More diversified demand growth will offer a level of resilience moving forward, but structurally lower demand growth in China and common Asian emerging markets' exposure to a weaker external environment will drag to the downside.
"We have revised down our India oil demand forecast, reflecting a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop and rising risks to growth. In part this reflects the downward revision to the country's GDP growth forecast," Fitch said.
"Growth has disappointed expectations, dragged down by slowing private consumption, weakened investment and underperformance in the services sector," it added.
In response, the government has unleashed a raft of stimulus measures, including tax cuts, a liquidity boost for the banking sector and higher spending on autos.
"Our Country Risk analysts are relatively bullish on the prospects for headline economic growth from 2020 onwards, forecasting a rebound from 6.4 per cent in real terms in 2019, to 6.9 per cent and 7.3 per cent in 2020 and 2021, respectively," it said.
Auto sales growth is also set to recover next year, supported by low base effects and improved policy support, which will, in turn, offer a lift to oil demand, it said.
"That said, we do not expect demand growth to return to its 2018 highs, as a challenging external environment, stresses in the banking and shadow banking sectors and tight fiscal constraints on the government mar performance in several of the more energy-intensive segments of the domestic economy," it added.

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Non-subsidised LPG cylinder cost cut by Rs 120, subsidised price by Rs 5.91

Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price was cut by Rs 5.91 per cylinder on Monday, the second straight reduction in a month's time due to tax impact on reduced market rate of the fuel.
A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will cost Rs 494.99 in the national capital from midnight tonight as against Rs 500.90 currently, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's largest fuel retailer, said in a statement.

This is the second straight monthly reduction in LPG rate. On December 1, subsidised LPG price was cut by Rs 6.52 per bottle.
That price cut had come after six consecutive monthly hikes in rates since June. The two price reductions have mostly negated the Rs 14.13 per cylinder increase in rates between June and November.
IOC said non-subsidised or market priced LPG rates have been cut by a steep Rs 120.50 per cylinder "due to fall in price of LPG in international market and strengthening of US dollar-rupee exchange rate."
It will now cost Rs 689 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
On December 1, price of non-subsidised LPG was cut by Rs 133 per bottle.
All LPG consumers have to buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users.
This subsidy amount varies from month to month depending on the changes in the average international benchmark LPG rate and foreign exchange rate.
When international rates move up, the government provides a higher subsidy. And when they come down, the subsidy is cut.
As per tax rules, GST on LPG has to be calculated at the market rate of the fuel. The government may choose to subsidise a part of the price but tax will have to be paid at market rates.
So, with the fall in market price or non-subsidised LPG price, the tax incidence on subsidised cooking fuel has also come down, leading to the current price reduction.
"Accordingly, the upfront cash payment by the consumer of domestic LPG will also reduce by Rs 120.50 per cylinder. Domestic LPG consumer will now be required to make upfront cash payment of Rs 689 a cylinder in place of Rs 809.50 per cylinder," IOC said.
Subsidised cooking gas consumers will get Rs 194.01 per cylinder subsidy in their bank accounts for the month of January. The subsidy transfer in the customer's bank account has been reduced from Rs 433.66 in November and Rs 308.60 in December.

Subsidised LPG price cut by Rs 6.52; non-subsidised rate reduced by Rs 133

The price of non-subsidised LPG cooking gas will be decreased by Rs 133 per cylinder in New Delhi, and that of the subsidised one will reduce by Rs 6.52 per cylinder, effective December 1.
According to the Indian Oil Corporation, the decrease in price of non-subsidised LPG cylinder is mainly due to a fall in price of LPG in the international market and strengthening of US dollar-rupee exchange rate.

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Consumers have to buy non-subsidised LPG cylinder after exhausting their yearly quota of 12 subsidised ones.
"The price of Non-Subsidised LPG at Delhi will decrease by Rs 133 per cylinder w.e.f. 1st December 2018, due to fall in price of LPG in international market and strengthening of 'US$-rupee' exchange rate," IndianOil said in a statement on Friday.
"Accordingly, the upfront cash payment by the consumer for purchase of domestic LPG refill will reduce by Rs 133 per cylinder, i.e. from Rs.809.50 per cylinder in December, 2018 in Delhi market in place of Rs 942.50 per cylinder in November, 2018."
In terms of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders, the decline has been attributed mainly on account of GST impact on the revised price of domestic non-subsidised LPG.
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"As domestic LPG prices are subsidized by Government, the Effective Price after subsidy to consumer will reduce by Rs.6.52 per cylinder. The reduction is on account of GST impact on decrease in price of Non-Subsidised LPG," the statement said.
Effectively, the price on subsidised cylinder will decrease to Rs 500.90 from Rs 507.42 in November 2018.

LPG's subsidised price cut by Rs 6.5, market price slashed by Rs 133

Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price Friday was cut by Rs 6.52 per cylinder on account of tax impact on the reduced market rate for the fuel.
A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will cost Rs 500.90 in the national capital from midnight tonight as against Rs 507.42 currently, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's largest fuel retailer, said in a statement.

The price reduction comes soon after six consecutive monthly hikes in rates since June. Prior to this price cut, rates had gone up by Rs 14.13 per cylinder since then.
Subsidised LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 2.94 per cylinder with effect from November 1.
IOC said non-subsidised or market priced LPG rates have been cut by a steep Rs 133 per cylinder to reflect fall in international oil rates and strengthening of the rupee. It will now cost Rs 809.50 per 14.2-kg bottle in Delhi.
All LPG consumers have to buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users.
This subsidy amount varies from month to month depending on the changes in the average international benchmark LPG rate and foreign exchange rate.
When international rates move up, the government provides a higher subsidy. And when they come down, subsidy is cut.
As per tax rules, GST on LPG has to be calculated at the market rate of the fuel. The government may choose to subsidise a part of the price but tax will have to be paid at market rates.
So, with the fall in market price or non-subsidised LPG price, the tax incidence on subsidised cooking fuel has also come down, leading to the current price reduction.
"Accordingly, the upfront cash payment by the consumer for purchase of domestic LPG refill will reduce by Rs 133 cylinder, i.e. from Rs 942.50 per cylinder to Rs 809.50 cylinder in December, 2018 in Delhi market," IOC said.
Subsidised cooking gas consumers will get Rs 308.60 per cylinder subsidy in their bank accounts for the month of December. The subsidy transfer in the customer's bank account has been reduced from Rs 433.66 in November.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

LPG prices hiked by over Rs 2 after govt raised dealers' commission

Domestic cooking gas LPG prices have been hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder after the government increased the commission paid to LPG dealers.
A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder in Delhi will now cost Rs 507.42 as against Rs 505.34 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

This followed an order of the Oil Ministry that raised the dealer's commission. In that order, the ministry said the domestic LPG distributors' commission for 14.2-kg cylinder and 5-kg cylinder was last fixed at Rs 48.89 and Rs 24.20 respectively in September 2017.
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"Pending finalisation of De-Novo Study for revision of LPG distributors' commission and taking into consideration the increase in transportation costs, wages etc, it has been decided to revise the distributors' commission to Rs 50.58 per 14.2 kg cylinder and Rs 25.29 per 5 kg cylinder as an interim measure," the order said.
This is the second increase in rates this month, the earlier one being on November 1, when prices went up by Rs 2.94 per cylinder because of tax component on the base price.
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Since June rates have gone up every month because of the GST paid on higher base price and cumulatively prices have risen by Rs 16.21.
In Mumbai, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder now costs Rs 505.05 while in Kolkata it is priced at Rs 510.70. Chennai has a price of Rs 495.39.
Rates differ from state to state depending on local taxes and transportation cost.
The new dealer's commission will be made up of Rs 30.08 establishment charges and Rs 20.50 delivery charges for a 14.2-kg cylinder. For 5 kg cylinder, the establishment charges have been fixed at Rs 15.04 and the rest Rs 10.25 are delivery charges, the ministry order said.
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Customers who collect their refills directly from distributor's premises will continue not to be charged for delivery, it said.
Before the hike, the dealer's commission was made up of Rs 29.39 establishment charges and Rs 19.50 delivery charges for a 14.2-kg cylinder. For 5 kg bottle, the establishment charges were Rs 14.70 and delivery charges Rs 9.50.
All LPG consumers have to buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users.
This subsidy amount varies from month to month depending on the changes in the average international benchmark LPG rate and foreign exchange rate.
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When international rates move up, the government provides a higher subsidy. But as per tax rules, GST on LPG has to be calculated at the market rate of the fuel. The government may choose to subsidise a part of the price but tax will have to be paid at market rates.
This has led to an increase in price.
On November 1, the non-subsidised or market price LPG rates went up by Rs 60 per cylinder to Rs 939. Because of the rise in dealer's commission, the price is now Rs 942.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.