India’s petroleum product consumption declined 4.6% year-on-year in April 2026, while natural gas consumption fell sharply and LNG imports plunged nearly 30%, signalling growing stress in the country’s energy demand amid elevated global fuel prices and disruptions linked to the West Asia crisis.
Official data released by the petroleum planning and analysis cell (PPAC) showed total petroleum product consumption stood at 19.3 million metric tonne (MMT) in April 2026 against 20.2 MMT in the corresponding month last year.
The sharpest pressure was visible in the gas segment. Total natural gas consumption during April fell 16.7% year-on-year to 4,703 MMSCM, while LNG imports plunged 29.6% to 1,954 MMSCM amid elevated spot LNG prices and supply disruptions in international markets.
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The slowdown in fuel demand comes even as India’s crude oil import burden surged sharply during the month.
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PPAC data showed India imported around 21 MMT of crude oil in April 2026 for $16.3 billion compared with 20.98 MMT worth $10.66 billion in April 2025. While import volumes remained broadly unchanged, the country paid nearly $5.7 billion more within a year due to soaring crude prices and rupee depreciation.
Brent crude averaged $120.55 per barrel during April 2026 against $67.79 per barrel in April last year, marking a steep 78% increase in benchmark oil prices. Similarly, the Indian basket crude price surged to an average of $114.48 per barrel from $67.72 per barrel during the same period.
The import pressure was amplified further by the rupee’s sharp depreciation against the US dollar. RBI reference rate data showed the rupee weakened from around ₹85.05 per dollar at the end of April 2025 to ₹95.24 per dollar on April 30, 2026, increasing the landed cost of imported crude oil and LNG.
The impact is increasingly spilling into the domestic economy. Petrol and diesel prices have already been raised by nearly ₹5 per litre in less than 10 days as state-run oil marketing companies started passing on a part of the increase in international oil prices to consumers.
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Within petroleum products, diesel consumption — accounting for over 43% of India’s fuel demand basket — remained largely flat, rising only 0.9% year-on-year to 8.33 MMT during April. Petrol consumption increased 6.8% to 3.68 MMT, while LPG consumption declined 13.1% to 2.21 MMT from 2.54 MMT a year ago.
Industrial Weakness
Industrial fuel demand weakened significantly. Bitumen consumption dropped 30.6%, naphtha demand declined 18.9%, and fuel oil usage fell 9.4%, indicating slower industrial and infrastructure-linked energy consumption.
India’s crude import dependence remained elevated at 88.3% during April 2026, underlining the economy’s vulnerability to global crude price volatility, currency movements and geopolitical disruptions.
TOPICSLNGPetroleumThis article was first uploaded on May twenty-four, twenty twenty-six, at zero minutes past six in the evening.