UPDATE 1-Indian refiners' February crude processing stays elevated amid robust demand

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
(Updates with details and adds milestones) April 5 (Reuters) - Indian refiners' crude oil processing remained near record levels in February, provisional government data showed on Wednesday, catering to rising demand in the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer.


Refinery throughput was 2% higher year-on-year at 5.46 million barrels per day (20.85 million tonnes) for February. Throughput stood at 5.39 million barrels per day (22.80 million tonnes)in January.


Crude oil processed in million barrels per day (bpd) terms, taking into account the fewer days in February, was the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009.


India's fuel demand hit its highest level in at least 24 years in February, with industrial activity in Asia's third biggest economy boosted by cheap Russian oil. In February, Russia tightened its grip on India's oil market, while sending the share of African crude oil in India's total crude imports to its lowest level in at least 22 years. Meanwhile, India's Bank of Baroda stopped clearing payments for Russian oil sold above the price cap set by the West from this month, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that could expedite transition to a rupee trade mechanism. Natural gas output rose 1.9% to 2.65 billion cubic metres year on year, while crude oil production was down nearly 5% year on year at 2.16 million tonnes, the data showed. India cut its windfall tax on crude oil to zero, a government notification said on Tuesday. Following are details of refinery throughput and crude oil output:


REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in '000 tonnes):


Feb-2023 Feb-2023 Feb-2022 April 2022-Feb April 2021-Feb 2023 2022 Plan Actual Actual Actual Actual
IOC, Guwahati 67 86 82 983 637 IOC, Barauni 531 543 529 6,205 5,024 IOC, Gujarat 1,152 1,213 1,200 14,221 12,136 IOC, Haldia 502 665 630 7,764 6,559 IOC, Mathura 619 741 781 8,675 8,239 IOC, Digboi 45 57 50 654 647 IOC, Panipat 1,209 12,08 1,122 12,512 13,564 IOC, Bongaigaon 209 233 181 2,517 2,390 IOC, Paradip 1,228 1,192 1,211 12,180 11,834 BPCL, Mumbai 1,130 1,293 1,236 13,188 13,168 BPCL, Kochi 1,250 1,407 1,934 14,475 13,880 BORL, Bina 635 657 594 7,106 6,706 HPCL, Mumbai 696 804 748 8,930 4,847 HPCL, Visakh 728 746 761 8,413 7,585 CPCL, Manali 840 928 928 10,282 7,978 NRL, Numaligarh 177 244 234 2,886 2,436 MRPL, Mangalore 1,300 1,393 1,392 15,614 13,367 ONGC, Tatipaka 4 6 7 68 69 HMEL, Bhatinda 876 1,008 1,010 11,623 11,935 RIL, Jamnagar 2,777 2,576 2,777 31,611 31,702 RIL, SEZ 2,013 2,280 2,013 25,334 26,191 Nayara, Vadinar 1,563 1,568 1,563 16,985 18,474 TOTAL 19,551 20,848 20,443 2,32,229 2,19,366



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):


Feb-2023 Feb-2023 Feb-2022 Plan Actual Actual
ONGC
Andhra Pradesh 15 16 14 Assam ^ 91 78 77 Gujarat 385 346 341 Tamil Nadu 20 20 21
Offshore # 1,121 983 1,057
OIL
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh & 277 246 230 Rajasthan (heavy oil)



Private Operators 583 473 532 Total 2,490 2,162 2,273


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 Arundhati Sarkar and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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