India May oil product exports up on low domestic demand

India oil product exports rose on the month in May as domestic consumption declined from strict lockdowns in many parts of the country.

Diesel exports increased by 53pc from April to 709,000 b/d, while gasoline shipments rose by 38pc to 364,000 b/d, oil ministry data showed.

Gasoline exports were 3pc below pre-pandemic levels in May 2019, while diesel increased by 40pc.

Shipments of diesel and gasoline rose by 20pc and 6pc, respectively, compared to the same time last year when India was under a nationwide lockdown without any transportation demand.

Crude oil imports declined by 9pc to 4.08mn b/d from April and from May 2019, but gained 18pc on an annual basis.

Driving activity across the country stood 43pc below a 13 January 2020 baseline in May, while it was 4pc below the baseline in April, showed mobility data from US technology firm Apple.

Diesel and gasoline consumption fell by about 20pc on the month in May.

Record high retail motor fuel prices also weighed on demand. Gasoline prices were at 103.36 rupees/litre ($1.39/l) in Mumbai, having exceeded the three-figure mark for the first time ever earlier in the month, while diesel was sold at Rs95.44/l.

Total Covid-19 cases in India rose to 29.9mn, making the country the second most infected region after the US. But many states have eased lockdowns as the daily increase in new cases fell to about 67,000 from over 400,000 in early May.

State-controlled refiners have increased run rates in anticipation that demand would recover in the coming months, with industry and market participants seeing an increase in consumption this month.

Echoing those observation, data from state-controlled refiners that account for around 90pc of the country's fuel sales, showed that diesel and gasoline consumption rebounded in the first half of June by 12pc and 13pc respectively from the same period in May.

Jet fuel exports in May rose by 50pc to 106,000 b/d from April, up by 38pc annually but down by 12pc from May 2019, oil ministry data showed.

Data also showed that fuel oil shipments nearly tripled on the month to about 48,000 b/d, but slipped by 1pc on the year.

By Sathya Narayanan