India’s energy demand was under stress in April 2026 amid elevated oil prices, geopolitical tensions in West Asia and rupee depreciation, which put pressure on fuel consumption and import costs. According to Official government data, petroleum product consumption fell 4.6% year-on-year, while natural gas demand and LNG imports surged.
In April 2026, total petroleum product consumption in India decreased to 19.3 million metric tonnes (MMT) from the previous year's 20.2 MMT, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Consumption of total natural gas declined the most by 16.7% from the previous year to 4,703 million metric standard cubic metres (MMSCM). LNG imports also fell by 29.6% to 1,954 MMSCM, owing to high international spot prices for LNG and supply disturbance.
During the month, demand for industrial fuels was also notably weaker. Less bitumen, and lower naphtha and fuel oil usage, followed slower infrastructure activity, and softer industrial consumption, with consumption down 30.6%, 18.9% and 9.4%, respectively.
However, diesel usage, which makes up over 43% of the fuel basket in India, saw a slight change in overall consumption at 8.33 MMT, up just 0.9%. The consumption of petrol and LPG rose 6.8% and 13.1% respectively to 3.68 MMT and 2.21 MMT.
According to PPAC data, India imported around 21 MMT in April 2026 crude oil in April 2026, which was similar to the previous year's crude oil import of 20.98 MMT in April 2025. But the overall import value increased to $16.3 billion from $10.66 billion in the previous year.
This implies that India had to pay around $5.7 billion more in a year for the same quantity of crude imports.
Elevated oil prices were the key cause of the rise. Brent crude prices averaged $120.55 per barrel in April 2026, up 78% from a year ago when they averaged $67.79 per barrel. Likewise, the Indian crude basket price went up from $67.72 per barrel to $114.48 per barrel.
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The depreciation in rupee also added to the costs of imports. According to RBI reference rate data, the rate of the rupee fell from around Rs. 85.05 per dollar in April 2025 to Rs. 95.24 per dollar by 30th April 2026.
The Indian rupee today rose 35 paise to Rs. 95.34 against the US dollar, aided by improved risk sentiment and the RBI's intervention.
Recently, state-owned oil marketing companies have raised the prices of petrol and diesel by nearly Rs. 5 per litre within a span of just 10 days, in the wake of rising crude oil prices.