The prolonged bailout negotiations in the first half of 2017 not only impacted bond spreads and business loan interest rates but market sentiment, overall, which has affected fuel consumption levels, officials at Greek petroleum company Motor Oil Hellas noted yesterday while presenting the corporation’s results.

Despite the negative Greek market conditions, the refinery group posted record results as a result of its increased emphasis on exports to make up for lower demand in the domestic fuel market, which appears to be entering a new crisis period.

Overall demand for the corporation’s petroleum products in 2017 fell by 2.1 percent. Gasoline registered the biggest drop, falling 3.1 percent. Diesel demand increased by 0.5 percent while heating fuel, affected by poor activity in December, down by 30 percent compared to the equivalent month a year earlier, fell by over 2 percent, overall.

Latest fuel market data for January showed some signs of improvement for the auto fuel sector but the decline in heating fuel demand was sustained.

Gasoline demand rose by 11 percent in January, diesel demand rose by 23 percent, while heating fuel demand slumped 37 percent.

The significant decline in heating fuel registered for the winter gone by can be attributed to a particularly heavy winter a year earlier, which had boosted heating fuel demand to particularly elevated levels.

Returning to Motor Oil Hellas, overall fuel sales, in volume terms, achieved a new record level in 2017, reaching 13.7 million metric tons, up from 13.04 million metric tons in 2016. The refinery group’s exports exceeded the 10 million mark for the first time, reaching 10.2 million metric tons.