Indian refiners' September crude processing rises over 4% annually

Indian refiners' throughput in September rose more than 4 per cent year-on-year, but eased on a monthly basis, provisional government data showed on Tuesday.

Refinery throughput in September was at 5.17 million barrels per day (bpd) (21.2 million metric tons).

India's fuel consumption in September totalled 17.92 million metric tons, its lowest in two years, as above-normal monsoon rainfall weighed on diesel demand.

"The monsoons stretched into September and dampened demand, and as a result, processing was a little quiet, but the yearly rise is due to overall increased consumption," Prashant Vasisht, vice president and co-head of corporate ratings at ICRA, said.

Apart from restricting mobility, monsoon rains also hit demand from the agriculture sector as farmers use gasoil-fired generators for irrigation.

Meanwhile, crude oil imports from Russia rose 11.7 per cent to about 1.9 million bpd in September, accounting for about two-fifths of the South Asian nation's overall crude imports in the month, tanker data obtained from industry sources showed. Refiners have invested billions of dollars in plant upgrades, allowing them to process more crude grades, in an effort to reduce costs.

State-run explorer Oil India expects to operate its refinery in the north-eastern state of Assam at an expanded capacity of 180,000 bpd in the fiscal year to March 2027.