Diesel sales drop in February

Statistics Canada says sales of diesel fuel topped 1,786,800 cubic metres in February, a drop of 4.9 per cent compared to 1,878,000 a year earlier.

The statistics gathering agency says a total of 7,613,000 cubic metres of refined petroleum products were sold in February, down 0.1 per cent from 7,621,900 cubic metres in 2000. A total of 2,877,300 cubic metres of gasoline were consumed, a drop of 2.2 per cent from 2,941,400 cubic metres in the year earlier period.

As for January, Canadians bought 3,656,700 cubic metres of diesel, an increase of 0.2 per cent from 3,648,9,000 cubic metres in January 2000. Total refined petroleum product sales climbed 4.4 per cent, hitting 15,714,800 cubic metres compared to 15,046,400 a year earlier.

Gas sales totalled 5,932,200 cubic metres, up 1.2 per cent from 5,860,200 in January 2000.