<article><p class="lead">India's exports of diesel in February fell from a year earlier, likely because of a surge in domestic fuel demand to at least a 24-year high and a windfall tax on such exports.</p><p>Diesel and gasoline accounted for nearly 70pc of India's oil product exports in February, according to oil ministry data.</p><p>Diesel continued to comprise the largest share of oil product exports at 573,000 b/d in February, up from 479,000 b/d in January but down from 643,000 b/d in February last year. But gasoline deliveries continued to rise. Gasoline exports were 416,000 b/d in February, rising from 318,000 b/d in January and from 367,000 b/d in February 2022. </p><p>India's total fuel consumption — including LPG, naphtha, bitumen and petroleum coke — was <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2428075">18.49mn t in February</a>, the highest for the month since the country's oil ministry began publishing data in the April 1998-March 1999 fiscal year. Fuel consumption rose by 5.7pc from 17.5mn t a year earlier but fell by 0.9pc from 18.66mn t in January.</p><p>Indian exports of diesel have fallen significantly since the government imposed a windfall tax in July 2022. As a result, diesel exports during the first 11 months of the April 2022-March 2023 fiscal year fell to 582,000 b/d, down from 649,000 b/d in the year-earlier period. But export duty on diesel has been progressively cut. The government on 21 March raised the export duty on diesel to 1 rupee/litre from <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2426643">Rs0.50/l two weeks earlier</a>. The government had slashed the duty to Rs0.50/l from 4 March from Rs1/l on 16 February. </p><p>India also continued to export substantial volumes of jet fuel and naphtha in February. Indian exports of jet fuel rose to 183,000 b/d in February, up by nearly 27pc from 144,000 b/d in January and by 56pc from 117,000 b/d in February last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic was still affecting air travel. Unlike diesel, Indian exports of jet fuel have stayed high despite the introduction of a windfall tax in July last year, likely because of an increase in air travel demand. Jet fuel exports averaged 165,000 b/d during July 2022-February 2023, up by over 61pc from 102,000 b/d over July 2021-February 2022. </p><p>Indian naphtha exports rose to over 132,000 b/d in February from 95,600 b/d in January but fell slightly from 139,000 b/d a year earlier. </p><p>India exported a total of 5.06mn t of oil products in February, up by 12pc from 4.5mn t in January and by 4.1pc from 4.86mn t in February 2022. </p><h3>Product imports slip back</h3><p class="lead">Indian product imports in February fell against the previous month, mainly because of reduced receipts of fuel oil. Indian imports of all products totalled 3.49mn t in February, down from 3.93mn t in January but higher than 3.31mn t in February 2022. </p><p>Fuel oil imports fell by 22pc from a month earlier and 33pc from a year earlier to 146,000 b/d in February. </p><p>LPG receipts rose marginally to 646,000 b/d in February from 639,000 b/d a month earlier and from 519,000 b/d a year earlier. Naphtha receipts almost doubled to 38,460 b/d in February from 19,235 b/d in January and rose nearly fivefold from 7,946 b/d in February 2022.</p><p>India remained a net product exporter, with the difference between exports and imports rising to 1.57mn t in February from 573,000t a month earlier and 1.55mn t a year earlier.</p><p class="bylines">By Pranav Joshi</p></article>
