India’s fuel demand surged 9.9 per cent in September, the biggest expansion in more than one year, after petrol and diesel consumption soared.

The world’s fastest growing oil consumer used 16.25 million tonnes of petroleum products in September as compared to 14.78 MT in the same period a year ago, according to data released by the oil ministry.

The growth was the highest since August 2016, when demand had jumped 18.2 per cent. The rise comes on the back of a 6.1 per cent drop in demand in August 2017, the most since April 2003, as floods ravaged several parts of the country curbing demand for diesel and petrol.

India, which International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts will be the fastest-growing consumer through 2040, has seen its oil demand fall in four out of eight months this year. The nation imports 81 per cent of its oil needs.

Diesel sales in September surged 16.5 per cent to 6.08 MT while petrol consumption jumped 17.85 per cent to 2.14 MT. Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 3.8 per cent to 1.94 MT. ATF or jet fuel demand soared 7.1 per cent to 615,000 tonnes. While naphtha sales surged 4.9 per cent to 1.16 million tonnes, consumption of bitumen, used for making roads, was up 7.5 per cent to 287,000 tonnes.