India’s Oil Consumption In Three Charts

India is one of the largest consumers of crude oil in the world. As a net importer of oil, India’s annual oil bill is huge. But according to a research report by The Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, India’s oil demand is rising and is “on the verge of take-off”. In addition, due to plunge in global oil prices India’s oil import bill is also projected to be lower.

1) The World’s Top Oil Consumers:

In 2015, India become the main driver of non-OECD oil demand growth with year-over-year growth rising by 0.3 million barrels/day. a record. Though currently Japan is the 2nd largest consumer of oil after China, India is poised to overtake Japan.

Click to enlarge


Top Oil Consuming Countries

2) India’s historical oil consumption by year:

Crude oil consumption has been consistently rising for India as the chart below shows. In the past decade, oil demand growth has been around 0.15 mb/day.Higher economic growth this year together with lower oil prices should lead to more oil consumption.

India Historical Oil Consumption by Year

3) Per capita oil consumption in India is still low relative to other countries:

Per Capita Oil Consumption Select Countries

India’s oil consumption is very low on a per capita basis when compared to the US.

Source: India’s Oil Demand: On the Verge of ‘Take-Off’? by Amrita Sen & Anupama Sen, The Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, University of Oxford

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *