Refined petroleum products export rise 32% to 5.6 MMT in November: PPAC

Export of refined petroleum product imports grew 32.1 per cent in November to 5.6 million metric tonnes (mmt), up from 4.3 mmt in the year-ago month, latest data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed.

Value-wise, exports stood at $4.3 billion in November, up from $3.8 billion a year back.

Exports in the April-November period also increased, rising 2.7 per cent to 40.8 mmt. This was due to a rise in the outbound shipment of vacuum gas oil (VGO), motor-spirit (MS), and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), the PPAC said.

Petroleum exports have been consistently high in 2023 primarily as a result of import volumes of crude oil remaining consistent throughout 2023. However, crude oil imports reduced 2.3 per cent in November to 18.6 mmt, down from 19 mmt. The net import bill for oil & gas for November was $11.5 billion as compared to a net import bill of $12.3 billion in November 2022.

Russia remained the single-largest supplier of crude oil for the 14th straight month as of November, estimates made by London-based commodity data analytics provider Vortexa, which tracks ship movements to estimate imports, show.

While the share of crude oil originating in Russia has reduced in recent months, the continuing discounts on Russian crude have helped stabilise volumes. People in the know said discounts had hovered between $9 and $11 per barrel in November, up from $8-$10 per barrel in October, and the low levels of $4-$5 per barrel in mid-2023.

Processed petroleum imports increased by 2.6 per cent to 4.1 mmt in November. In the April-November period, imports rose 11.5 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

Domestically, the consumption of petroleum products fell 2 per cent in the latest month to 18.7 mmt annually. However, in the April-November period, overall consumption rose 4.9 per cent to 152.3 mmt, up from 145.1 mmt in the same period a year ago. This growth was led by a 6.5 per cent growth in motor spirits, a 5.4 per cent rise in high-speed diesel and a 12.9 per cent increase in ATF, and 12.4 per cent in Naphtha consumption, the PPAC said.

The total natural gas consumption for November rose 6.6 per cent to 5,328 million standard cubic meters (mmscm) of gas, as compared to November 2022. The cumulative consumption of 43,696 mmscm for the current year till November was higher by 8.5 per cent annually.

Gross production of natural gas rose 7.1 per cent to 3,041 mmscm in November. The cumulative gross production for FY24 till November stood at 24,081 mmscm for this financial year, up by 5.1 per cent compared annually.

Indian refiners processed 21.6 mmt of crude oil in the latest month, 10.7 per cent higher than the 19.5 mmt of crude processed in November 2022. Of this, government-owned oil firms and joint ventures processed 15 mmt, while private refiners processed 6.7 mmt of crude oil, the data showed.

Meanwhile, domestic crude production stood at 2.4 mmt in November, reducing 0.4 per cent. 

• Oil & gas sector in November
• Crude oil imports fell 2.3%
• Net import bill for oil & gas at $11.1 billion
• Refinery output rose 10.7% to 19.5 MMT
• Natural gas production rose 7.1%
• Processed petroleum product exports reached $4.3 billion