The falling international oil prices and the economic slowdown have made the government lower its projections for import of crude oil and petroleum products during the current financial year both in terms of volume and value. Export of products is also expected to be considerably lower than originally estimated.
The government has brought down its estimates for crude oil imports during 2001-02 by 5.28 per cent from 84.8 million tonne as planned in the Oil Economy Budget (OEB) to 80.3 million tonne.
For petroleum products, the import estimates have been lowered by 43.79 per cent from 8.8 million tonne to 4.9 million tonne.
In terms of value, the estimates regarding the crude import bill have been lowered by 15.54 per cent from the originally planned $16,799 million to $14,188 million. The estimates regarding the petroleum products import bill have also been brought down by 47.6 per cent from $2,382 million to $1,248 million.
In volume terms, the estimates regarding the total (crude and products) imports have been brought down by 8.9 per cent from 93.6 million tonne to 85.3 million tonne. In terms of value, these have come down by 19.52 per cent from $19,181 million to $15,436 million.
As per the figures available with the petroleum ministry, the estimates regarding the total exports have also been lowered. In terms of volume, these have been brought down by 11.13 per cent from 9.8 million tonne to 8.7 million tonne, while in value terms, these have been brought down by 28.86 per cent from $2,262 million to $1,609 million.
