Crude Oil Processing in India Sees Uptick in March
India's crude oil processing volumes witnessed a rise in March 2024, reaching 23.4 million metric tonnes (MMT), according to data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). This represents a 1.6% increase compared to the 23 MMT processed in March 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the volume rose by 11.9% from February's 20.9 MMT.
Government-owned oil PSUs and joint ventures accounted for 16.1 MMT of the total volume processed in March, while private refiners processed 7.3 MMT.
Domestic Crude Production Remains Steady
Domestic crude production remained stable at 2.5 MMT in March, marking a 16.2% increase from the 2.15 MMT produced in February. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) contributed 1.6 MMT, followed by Oil India Limited (OIL) at 0.3 MMT.
Crude Imports Decline Amidst Higher Global Prices
Crude imports in March decreased by 4.4% to $20 billion, down from $20.9 billion in March 2023, due to higher global prices. On a sequential basis, imports fell by 16.8%.
Russia Remains Top Crude Oil Supplier
According to estimates by Vortexa, a London-based commodity data analytics provider, Russia remained the single-largest supplier of crude oil for the 18th consecutive month as of March. Imports from Russia rose 7% month-on-month in March, reaching 1.36 million barrels of crude oil per day.
Natural Gas Production and Imports
Gross production of natural gas for March stood at 3,138 million metric standard cubic meters (MMSCM), a 6.2% increase compared to the same month in the previous year. The cumulative gross production of natural gas for 2023-24 reached 36.438 MMSCM, representing a 5.8% increase year-on-year.
The gap between domestic gas production and imports widened to 2,456 MMSCM in March.