India’s November oil product exports, crude imports up

India's oil product exports rose on the month in November, with an increase in shipments of all three transport fuels, even though demand was mostly robust last month. Crude imports also rose.

Preliminary data from Vortexa show that product shipments totalled 1.41mn b/d last month, up from October's 1.36mn b/d.

Exports of clean petroleum products — including gasoil, gasoline, naphtha and jet fuel — were at 1.4mn b/d, up from 1.32mn b/d in October, while shipments of dirty products such as bitumen and fuel oil decreased to 13,400 b/d from 45,900 b/d.

Of the total, the major share of the exports were of diesel/gasoil at 650,000 b/d in November, up from 636,000 b/d in October. Diesel demand of 1.43mn b/d in November grew by 7pc on the month, lower than the 16pc month-on-month increase seen in October .

Consumption of the motor fuel surpassed pre-pandemic levels in October as the festival season supported the demand for goods and boosted trucking and heavy motor vehicle activity. Fuel demand fell by 14pc last month from November 2019, according to data from state-controlled refiners that account for around 90pc of the country's fuel sales

Finished gasoline shipments rose last month to 248,000 b/d from 188,000 b/d in October, even though demand was up by 5pc on the month and by 4pc compared with November 2019, on increased preference for personal vehicles over public transport.

Average driving activity across India in November was 118pc above a 13 January 2020 baseline, according to data from US technology firm Apple, up from October's 92pc above the baseline activity.

India's exports of jet fuel rose to 137,000 b/d in November from 110,000 b/d in October, despite an increase in domestic air traffic , airlines being allowed to operate at max capacity and a lower fob Singapore prices . Jet fuel use last month rose by 12pc from October and by 29pc on the year.

About 66pc of the total oil product exports were from Sikka on India's west coast, where private-sector refiner Reliance Industries operates the 1.24mn b/d Jamnagar refinery complex, data showed.

Meanwhile, imports of crude oil slightly increased as state-run refiners were operating at higher capacity on expectations of higher demand.

Crude and condensate ship-ins rose to 4.08mn b/d from 3.96mn b/d in October, data showed. Government figures for last month are not yet available, but the oil ministry placed October's imports at around 4mn b/d .

The country imports nearly 84pc of its crude needs and most of it comes from the Middle East. Shipments from the region rose to 2.83mn b/d in November from 2.48mn b/d in October. Imports from the Americas fell to 696,000 b/d from 735,000 b/d in October.

Sikka port also saw the single-largest quantity of crude discharge last month at 1.35mn b/d, data showed, while the second-largest quantity of about 780,000 b/d was delivered to Vadinar port, where Russian-owned Nayara Energy operates a 400,000 b/d refinery.

The most imported crude grade last month was Iraqi Basrah Heavy at 639,000 b/d, up from 498,000 b/d in October. Imports of Saudi Arabia's Arab Extra Light were 444,000 b/d, down from 491,000 b/d.

By Sathya Narayanan

Crude imports by Indian ports mn b/d Port Nov Oct Sikka 1.3 1.3 Vadinar 0.8 0.6 Paradip 0.5 0.5 Kochi 0.3 0.4 Mumbai 0.3 0.3 Mundra 0.3 0.4 Chennai 0.2 0.1 New Mangalore 0.2 0.2 Visakhapatnam 0.1 0.1 Source: Vortexa India crude imports from major regions '000 b/d India monthly average driving activity in 2021 pc/month

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