Petroleum product export earnings fell 13.4% to $3.3 bn in May: PPAC

Lower global crude prices reduced May petroleum export earnings to $3.3 billion even as outbound and import volumes rose and crude processing remained steady

Despite a rise in outbound trade volumes, lower global crude oil prices pulled down earnings from the export of refined petroleum products in May, latest data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed. Receipts from petroleum exports fell 13.15 per cent to $3.3 billion in May, down from $3.8 billion in May 2024.

 

In May, Brent crude prices hovered between $60 and $62 per barrel, compared to $80 per barrel a year earlier. As a result, there was a fall in the export of aviation turbine fuel and high speed diesel. In contrast, earnings had risen by nearly 30 per cent in FY25, leading to capacity expansion by major exporters.

 

Meanwhile, the crude import bill in May decreased by 15.6 per cent to $11.3 billion, down from $13.4 billion a year ago. This occurred even as import volumes rose to 23.3 million metric tonnes (MMT), up from 22 MMT in May 2024.

 

Crude oil volumes processed by Indian refiners remained steady in the latest month, rising 0.4 per cent to 23.1 MMT. On a sequential basis, however, volumes rose by 7.4 per cent from April’s 21.5 MMT. Of the total volume processed in May, government-owned oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) and joint ventures accounted for 15.6 MMT, while private refiners processed 7.5 MMT of crude oil. 

 

Domestic crude production held steady at 2.3 MMT in the latest month, marking a sequential rise of 9.5 per cent from the 2.1 MMT registered in April. Of the 2.3 MMT produced, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) contributed 1.5 MMT, followed by Oil India Limited (OIL) at 0.3 MMT.

 

According to estimates by London-based commodity data analytics provider Vortexa, which uses ship movements to gauge imports, Russia remained the single-largest supplier of crude oil. The second, third and fourth largest suppliers—Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE—all key OPEC+ members, sharply increased crude shipments to India, collectively supplying an additional 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May compared to the preceding month. Their combined market share reached about 78 per cent.

 

According to energy tracker Vortexa, these four nations exceeded their OPEC+ commitment of a 359,000 bpd production increase under the alliance’s expansion plan of 409,000 bpd.