Fitch Ratings has said India's fuel demand will continue to recover through the current quarter of current financial year (Q4FY22) as the easing of Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions boosts economic activity. The recovery should support higher throughput at most oil marketing companies and strong prices are expected to improve the financial profiles of upstream oil and gas companies.
However, the rating agency stated that recovery expectations remain subject to further restrictions due to the risk of a resurgence of COVID cases in India with the emergence of new variants.
It stated ‘We expect improved demand for petroleum products to reach pre-pandemic levels in 4QFY22 (January-March 2022), but the full financial year's demand is still 2-4% below that in FY20.’