IOC cuts MEG oxygen supplies as India Covid cases surge

Market: Petrochemicals
20/04/21

Indian state-controlled refiner IOC has scaled back throughput at its mono ethylene glycol (MEG) unit in Panipat after diverting oxygen to help fight the country's escalating Covid-19 outbreak.

IOC has cut supplies of high-purity oxygen to the MEG unit at its Panipat refinery and has started sending 150t of medical-grade liquid oxygen to hospitals in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. There is a massive surge in demand for medical-grade oxygen in India as coronavirus cases increase, the company said yesterday.

IOC has already been scaling back MEG supplies for over six months because of oversupply in the domestic market, according to market participants. The Panipat MEG unit has capacity of 330,000 t/yr, Argus data show.

India has seen a huge rise in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, with new infections approaching 300,000 a day. The latest surge has cut fuel demand and is also hitting use of petrochemical products such as polyester, market participants said.

The Indian capital Delhi imposed a six-day lockdown yesterday to curb the spread of the virus, increasing pressure on fuel demand.

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IOC cuts MEG oxygen supplies as India Covid cases surge

Related news posts

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