New Delhi: The consumption of natural gas witnessed higher growth in the April-December period of FY2023-24 in comparison to the consumption of petrol and diesel year-on-year, official datasets show. While natural gas consumption at 49,540 MMSCM (in April-December 2023) clocked a growth of 9.4 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year, the consumption of petrol grew by 5.7 percent and diesel by 4.4 percent during the same period.
Natural gas consumption in December 2023 was 5,472 MMSCM which was 8.9 percent higher than the corresponding month of the previous year. Petrol consumption, on the other hand, during the month of December 2023 recorded a volume of 2.99 MMT which was 0.2 percent higher than 2.98 MMT recorded in December 2022. Diesel consumption during the month of December 2023, with a volume of 7.6 MMT, registered a 2.5 percent decrease over 7.8 MMT registered in December 2022.
Data shows that gross production of natural gas for the month of December 2023 was 3,132 MMSCM which was higher by 6.1 percent compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. The cumulative gross production of natural gas of 27,213 MMSCM for the current financial year till December 2023 was higher by 5.2 percent compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
In contrast, indigenous crude oil and condensate production during December 2023 was 2.5 MMT, registering a decline of 1.03 percent in comparison to the corresponding month of the previous fiscal. For the April-December period, however, crude oil production within the country was marginally lower year-on-year at 0.45 percent. India recorded crude oil production of 22.1 MMT in April-December 2022-23 and 22 MMT in April-December 2023-24.
LNG import for the month of December 2023 was 2,393 MMSCM which was 12.1 percent higher than the corresponding month of the previous year. The cumulative import of 22,856 MMSCM for the current financial year till December 2023 was higher by 14.2 percent compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
Out of the total natural gas consumption in December, fertilizer accounted for 32 percent, City Gas Distribution (CGD) accounted for 20 percent, power sector accounted for 11 percent, refinery consumed 8 percent and petrochemicals consumed 4 percent.
The government set out a target in 2018 of increasing the share of gas in India’s energy mix to 15 percent by 2030. According to Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy, 2023, the share of gas in India’s energy basket is 5.78 percent.