India’s natural gas consumption rises 7% YoY in June amid higher demand

To meet higher demand, LNG imports in June were 11.3 percent higher at 2648 MMSCM.

India’s natural gas consumption climbed by seven percent year-on-year in June amid higher demand of the cold fuel in summer months, compared to only 0.3 percent growth in the previous month.

In June, India consumed 5,594 MMSCM (million metric standard cubic metre) of natural gas, which was 7.1 percent higher than the previous year, showed oil ministry data. Meanwhile, India’s gas consumption rose 3.8 percent in the current financial year till June 2024.

The month of June posted significant higher consumption growth than May and April as gas consumption rose by 0.3 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively. India consumed 5,708 MMSCM of natural gas in May and 5,515 MMSCM in April.

To meet higher demand, LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports in June were 11.3 percent higher at 2648 MMSCM. Domestic gas production also increased by 2.9 percent year-on-year in June.

The rise in consumption comes on back of higher gas demand from the power sector in the summer months. With the onset on monsoons in India, gas demand is expected to slow down in the coming months.

Oil imports

India’s oil import bill came in at $11.1 billion in June, while LNG import bill was at $1.1 billion in the month. The net oil and gas import bill was higher at $10.2 billion in June, as compared to net import bill of $9.2 billion in the same month last year. The higher import bill could be linked to elevated crude oil prices in June.

According to oil ministry data, consumption of petroleum products in June recorded a growth of 2.6 percent at 20 million metric tonnes (MMT). The petroleum products’ consumption grew by 3.4 percent between April to June of current financial year at 60.9 MMT led by 11.4 percent growth in aviation turbine fuel (ATF), 7.1 percent in petrol, 1.6 percent in diesel and 5 percent in LPG.

Additionally, blending of ethanol in petrol reached 15.9 percent in June, higher than previous month. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas is spearheading the ethanol blending programme in India with the aim of achieving 20 percent blending by 2025.