By Ashitha Shivaprasad and Ananya Bajpai
(Reuters) -Indian refiners’ crude oil processing stayed near record peaks in March, provisional government data showed on Friday, catering to solid seasonal demand in the world’s third biggest oil consumer.
Refinery throughput gained 3% to 5.44 million barrels per day (23 million tonnes) year-on-year for March. Throughput stood at 5.46 million bpd (20.85 million tonnes) in February.
Crude oil processed in tonnes, was the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009. Crude processed in million bpd terms, taking into account the fewer days in February, was also the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009.
In March, India’s fuel consumption hit a record high.
“In March, we generally see seasonal high demand. Fuel demand is rising with heightened industrial activity and also as it is harvesting season,” said Prashant Vasisht, vice president and co-head, corporate ratings at ICRA.
“Demand might slow when monsoons hit India, but overall we still project increased fuel demand for the year as the Indian economy is expected to record good growth.”
Natural gas output was up 2.4% to 2.96 billion cubic metres year on year, while crude oil production fell 2.9% to 2.45 million tonnes, the data showed.
Preliminary sales data showed Indian state refiners posted an 8.4% rise in sales of gasoil to 3.45 million tonnes in the first half of April compared with the same period last month, indicating higher demand from the agriculture sector and a recovery in industrial activity.
India has been stocking up on discounted Russian crude oil. Western nations have imposed a $60 a barrel price cap for anyone buying Russian oil as part of sanctions against Moscow. However, India and China have paid prices above the cap, according to traders and Reuters calculations.
Following are details of refinery throughput and crude oil output:
REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in ‘000 tonnes):
March-2023 March-2023 March-2022 April 2022-March April 2021-March
2023 2022
Plan Actual Actual Actual Actual
IOC, Guwahati 15 97 93 1,080 730
IOC, Barauni 588 580 596 6,785 5,620
IOC, Gujarat 1,278 1,346 1,338 15,567 13,474
IOC, Haldia 729 743 747 8,506 7,305
IOC, Mathura 790 898 884 9,573 9,123
IOC, Digboi 58 59 61 713 708
IOC, Panipat 1,341 1,298 1,285 13,810 14,849
IOC, Bongaigaon 234 258 248 2,775 2,639
IOC, Paradip 1,360 1,418 1,383 13,598 13,217
BPCL, Mumbai 1,260 1,358 1,269 14,546 14,437
BPCL, Kochi 1,380 1,542 1,522 16,017 15,402
BORL, Bina 695 736 704 7,842 7,410
HPCL, Mumbai 771 874 711 9,804 5,558
HPCL, Visakh 975 874 825 9,287 8,410
CPCL, Manali 930 1,034 1,062 11,316 9,040
NRL, Numaligarh 160 205 188 3,091 2,624
MRPL, Mangalore 1,475 1,502 1,504 17,116 14,871
ONGC, Tatipaka 4 5 6 73 75
HMEL, Bhatinda 970 1,110 1,092 12,735 13,027
RIL, Jamnagar 3,056 2,822 3,056 34,433 34,757
RIL, SEZ 2,074 2,538 2,073 27,872 28,264
Nayara, Vadinar 1,690 1,707 1,690 18,692 20,164
TOTAL 21,833 23,004 22,337 2,55,233 2,41,703
Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
IOC: Indian Oil Corp
BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd
HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd
CPCL: Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd
MRPL: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd
Reliance Industries Ltd
Please note that CPCL’s CBR refinery is de-commissioned under shutdown due to limitation in meeting required product specifications with the existing configuration.
CRUDE OUTPUT (‘000 tonnes):
March-2023 March-2023 March-2022
Plan Actual Actual
ONGC
Andhra Pradesh 17 17 15
Assam ^ 102 89 86
Gujarat 427 381 385
Tamil Nadu 21 18 23
Offshore # 1,247 1,151 1,173
OIL
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh & 308 276 257
Rajasthan (heavy oil)
Private Operators 784 522 587
Total 2,907 2,454 2,526
Total may not tally because some numbers have been rounded.
ONGC: Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd
OIL: Oil India Ltd
^Includes oil output of Tripura
#Includes oil output from Mumbai High
(Reporting by Ananya Bajpai and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)
