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(OilPrice.com) The EIA recently published a global oil consumption data sheet that provided a clear picture of where the global oil economy is currently heading. The data revealed that although there had been a substantial oil consumption increase in the Middle East (led by Saudi Arabia), Asia (Led by China) and Oceania, the rest of the world which included Russia , other FSU countries, the U.S., Japan and Europe experienced a consistent decline in their oil consumption rates over the last decade.

This global consumption data along with current global supply glut suggests that the overall oil consumption rate might remain weak even in 2016. But even while oil demand slows in much of the world, there is one nation that continues to exceed expectations for oil consumption rates.

India’s oil consumption is rising at a quick pace

For the very first time, India’s economic growth rate (of around 7.3% for year ending March 2015) is set to overtake China. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in its World Economic Outlook report, that India is going to be ‘world’s fastest growing large economy’. “Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower commodity prices,” the IMF said in its report. It needs to be noted that crude oil does not have any major substitute in India at the moment.

The market for electric vehicles (EV’s) is almost non-existent in India. With sustained growth in the number of IC (internal combustion) engine vehicles, the consumption of both gasoline and diesel (which constitute almost 73 percent of the total sales of petroleum products in India) has witnessed a sharp increase in this decade. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) and ET Intelligence group, gasoline sales increased by 14.77 percent (highest growth in a decade) in 2015 while diesel sales increased by 5.64 percent during the same period.