Crude oil processing volumes rose to 23.4 mmt in March: PPAC data

Crude oil volumes processed by Indian refiners rose to 23.4 million metric tonnes (MMT) in March, data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) on Thursday showed. Processed volumes rose by 1.6 per cent compared to 23 MMT processed in March 2023. On a sequential basis, however, volumes rose by 11.9 per cent from February's 20.9 MMT.

Out of the total volume processed in March, government-owned oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) and joint ventures accounted for 16.1 MMT, while private refiners processed 7.3 MMT of crude oil.

Domestic crude production exhibited steady levels, at 2.5 MMT in the latest month. The production marked a sequential rise of 16.2 per cent from the 2.15 MMT registered in February. Out of the 2.5 MMT produced, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) contributed 1.6 MMT, followed by Oil India Limited (OIL) at 0.3 MMT.

Meanwhile, crude imports in March decreased by 4.4 per cent to $20 billion, down from $20.9 billion in March 2023 owing to higher global prices. On a sequential basis, imports fell by 16.8 per cent.

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 for the 18th consecutive month as of March. At 1.36 million barrels of crude oil per day, imports from Russia rose 7 per cent month-on-month in March, compared to February.

Gross production of natural gas for the month of October was 3,138 million metric standard cubic meters (MMSCM), which was higher by 6.2 per cent compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. The cumulative gross production of natural gas was 36.438 MMSCM for 2023-24. This was higher by 5.8 per cent compared with the previous year.

The difference between domestic gas production and imports widened to 2,456 MMSCM in March.