India October fuel demand hits highest since March

Nov 6 (Reuters) - India's fuel consumption in October rose nearly 10% from the previous month to 20.49 million metric tons, its highest level since March, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the oil ministry showed.

• Fuel consumption was 18.71 million tons in September. The October reading was also up 2.7% from the same month last year.

• India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) MRPL.NS is increasing crude oil purchases on a delivered basis to reduce its exposure to shipping risks stemming from the Iran war and cut freight costs, its head of finance said on Wednesday.

• Diesel consumption rose 19% from September and was up 12% from a year earlier.

• Gasoline sales were up 3.5% from a year earlier.

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption fell nearly 1% to 2.52 million metric tons in October from a month earlier, and was down about 12.3% from a year earlier.

• Naphtha sales rose 1.7% from a year earlier.

• Consumption of bitumen, used primarily in road construction, rose 19.3% from September and was up 16.6% from a year earlier.

• Fuel oil usage rose 6.4% from September.

• "We expect India's fuel demand to remain healthy through the end of the year, supported by industrial activity, freight movement, agricultural consumption, passenger mobility and incremental power generation requirements," Kpler analyst Sumit Ritolia said.

DOMESTIC SALES (in millions of metric tons):