Indian Oil sees India's oil demand surging to 500 mn tonnes per yr by 2040

India's crude oil demand is forecast to grow to 500 million tonnes per year by 2040, but persistent increases in oil prices might act as a dampener for the rate of growth, Partha Ghosh, an executive director at Indian Oil Corp said on Tuesday.

That would be equivalent to around 10 million barrels per day (bpd), up from about 4.7 million bpd in 2017.

Globally oil demand will increase by 15.8 million bpd from now until 2040, Ghosh said during the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore. India's growth of 5.9 million bpd will make up about 24 per cent of the overall gain, he said.

India's refining capacity would increase to about 439 million tonnes per year by the financial year of 2030 as new and existing refineries continue enhancing their infrastructure, while domestic demand is forecast to increase to 356 million tonnes per year over the same period, Ghosh said.