India’s Oct gasoline exports rise despite robust demand

India's gasoline exports rose on the month in October despite an increase in motor fuels demand, which had pushed refiners to process more crude, while diesel shipments were mostly unchanged.

Gasoline exports of 274,000 b/d in October were up by 14pc on the month, by 26pc on the year and by 1pc compared to the same time in 2019, provisional oil ministry data showed, even though demand for the motor fuel rose month-on-month and increased by 8pc compared to pre-pandemic October 2019 .

A rise in travel demand induced by the festival season and increasing use of personal transport increased consumption last month.

Diesel exports of 696,000 b/d in October remained mostly unchanged from the prior month, while it was up by 22pc on the year, but down by 7pc compared to October 2019.

Consumption of the motor fuel last month had surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels in October 2019 by 2pc, in line with market expectations , as the festival season also induced higher demand for goods, which in turn increased the use of trucks and heavy motor vehicles that predominantly use gasoil.

Exports of aviation fuel rose by 50pc on the month to 115,000 b/d. Exports more than doubled compared to the same time last year but were down by 27pc from October 2019. Jet fuel shipments were also higher despite robust demand for domestic air travel .

Meanwhile, expectations of an increase in motor fuel demand last month had pushed refiners to lift run rates , which resulted in an increase in total oil products production . Crude volumes processed by Indian refiners rose by 12pc on the month in October to 5mn b/d and total oil product production rose by 13pc on the month to 21.6mn t, oil ministry data showed yesterday.

Production of gasoline rose by 6pc to 930,000 b/d last month from September but was mostly unchanged from October 2019. Diesel and jet fuel output on the other hand were up by 13pc and 24pc on the month at 2.2mn b/d and 230,000 b/d, respectively, but were correspondingly down by 5pc and 36pc from pre-pandemic October 2019.

While India is a net exporter of oil products, it imports nearly 84pc of its crude needs. Most of India's crude imports come from the Middle East, which accounted for 60.2pc of the total ship-ins between April and October this year. This is compared to 62.8pc during the same period last year.

The data also showed that imports from North and South America accounted for 18.4pc of the total share, up from 17.3pc, while the cuontry's share of African crude imports rose to 15.4pc from 14.2pc last year.

By Sathya Narayanan

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