Private firms will be banned from importing superior kerosene oil (SKO) through state port facilities from March 31 to reduce blending of kerosene into gas oil, government sources said yesterday.
Due to large scale mixing (of kerosene) with diesel, it has been decided not to allow private firms to use the import and storage terminals of (state-run) oil companies from March 31, a petroleum ministry official said. He said superior kerosene oil imports had risen in recent months because of a widening price between kerosene and gas oil.
On September 1 last year the government removed subsidies on diesel. Imported kerosene is now Rs 4 per litre cheaper than diesel, making it attractive to divert imports to retail outlets for blending into gas oil.
The price differential was also partly behind a slowdown in diesel consumption in the country the countrys main oil product which normally represents half of all oil product demand.
