India May oil product sales up 0.7 pct y/y - govt
NEW DELHI, June 23 (Reuters) - India's oil product sales may have turned negative in May for the first time in seven months, an oil ministry official said, as preliminary data for local sales showed annual growth of 0.7 percent in the month.
May's preliminary growth rate is slower than the previous two months mainly due to a decline in sale of diesel, which accounts for over a third of the country's consumption, the government data on fuel sales showed.
India consumed 10.99 million tonnes of oil products in the month, the preliminary data showed.
"These numbers are actual sales by the companies. Data for import of various products is not included in these numbers. If you include imports also the sales may decline... it will be negative," the official, who could not be named as he is not authorised to speak to media, told Reuters.
He said one of the reasons for the likely decline in May fuel consumption was a fall in naphtha sales. In May, naphtha imports declined sharply compared to year earlier due to the increased availability of gas, he said.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO) began pumping gas in April from its deepwater block in the Krishna Godavari basin, off India's east coast. The gas is being sold to various fertiliser plants.
Domestic diesel sales declined 1.3 percent in May from a year earlier while petrol consumption rose 4.9 percent during the month, the preliminary data showed. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by John Mair)
