Refiners' February crude processing stays elevated amid robust demand

(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)