Page 153 - CW E-Magazine (26-9-2023)

Hydrocarbons

FUEL SALES TRENDS

Diesel sales fall in September, petrol consumption up

Diesel sales in India fell for the in the second fortnight of that month.
second straight month in September as Petrol sales were up 1.2 percent to 1.3-
rains dampened demand and slowed million tonnes in the first fortnight of
industrial activity in some parts of September, when compared with the
the country, preliminary data of state- same period last year.
owned firms showed. While diesel sales
by three state-owned fuel retailers fell Consumption had dropped 10.5
year-on-year in the first half of Septem- percent in the first fortnight of July but
ber, petrol sales were up marginally. picked up in the latter half. It had fallen
by 8 percent in the first half of August.
Consumption of diesel, the most Sales in the first half of September were
consumed fuel in the country account- lower demand in the agriculture sector up 8.8 percent month-on-month, the
ing for about two-fifths of the demand, which uses the fuel for irrigation, har- data showed.
fell 5.8 percent to 2.72-million tonnes vesting and transportation. Also, rains
between September 1 and 15, com- slow vehicular movements. Consumption of petrol during Sep-
pared to the year-ago period. Consump- tember 1-15 was 29.2 percent more
tion had fallen by a similar proportion Consumption of diesel had soared than in the COVID-marred first half of
in the first half of August. 6.7 percent and 9.3 percent in April September 2021 and 20.8 percent more
and May, respectively, as agriculture than in pre-pandemic September 2019.
Month-on-month sales were up 0.9 demand picked up and cars yanked up
percent, when compared with 2.7 mil- air-conditioning to beat the summer Diesel consumption was up 26 per-
lion tonnes of diesel consumed in the heat. It started to taper in the second cent over September 1-15, 2021, and
first half of August. Diesel sales typi- half of June after the monsoon set in. It 36.4 percent when compared with Sep-
cally fall in monsoon months as rains fell in the first half of July but picked up tember 1-15, 2019.

AIMING FOR NET ZERO
OIL to invest Rs. 25,000-crore in clean energy

State-owned Oil India Ltd. (OIL) and onshore wind energy projects, as
intends to invest Rs. 25,000-crore well as Rs. 3,000-crore in a project to
($3.01-bn) in clean energy projects that produce green hydrogen. Addition-
will help it achieve a net zero carbon ally, CCUS projects would receive
emission goal by 2040, its Chairman, Rs. 1,000-crore in funding. It has already
Mr. Ranjit Rath, has said. To this goal, firmed up plans for 640-MW of solar
OIL will reduce gas flaring, commer- projects in Assam and another 150-MW
cialise stranded gas, set up renewable in Himachal Pradesh.
energy production capacity, construct
green hydrogen plants, and create bio- Mr. Rath also stated that OIL is work-
gas and ethanol factories. ing on a ‘Mission 4+’ of raising crude oil
including green hydrogen, compressed production to over 4-mt and gas output
Mr. Rath further stated that the biogas plants, geothermal energy, zero to 5-bcm (billion cubic metres) through
company plans to lay an 80-km pipe- flaring initiatives, Carbon Capture, a mix of increased exploration to access
line to bring natural gas from fields in Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) projects, fresh reservoirs and technological advan-
Arunachal Pradesh to Assam to help and 2G ethanol plants. cements to boost output from existing
replace polluting liquid fuels in transport fields. There has been production of 3.2-
as well as industries. He also mentioned OIL intends to invest over Rs. mt of crude in 2022-23. This year, the
that projects span an array of activities, 9,000-crore in 1,800-MW of solar company has set a target of 3.8-mt.

Chemical Weekly September 26, 2023 153

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