India to become second-largest oil demand centre in 2019

India will surpass China to become the second-largest oil demand growth centre globally in 2019 on the back of buoyant auto fuel and LPG consumption, research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie said this week. In a report, Wood Mackenzie said India′s oil demand growth recovered strongly in 2018, overcoming the aftermath of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, and contributed 14 per cent of the global demand growth, or 2,45,000 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," the report said. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), India is currently ranked behind the US and China as the world′s third-largest oil consumer. It consumed 206.2 million tonnes (over 4 million bpd) in 2017-18. During April-December, consumption of petroleum products stood at 157.4 million tonnes, up 2.5 per cent over the year-ago period.