Crude oil imports in India reach 4.47 MMBOPD
Demand for crude oil in India remains a bright spot in the markets as imports continue to grow month-over-month. Imports of crude oil grew to a record high 4.47 MMBOPD in September, according to Reuters, 17.7% higher than this time last year. The increased imports lent some support to oil prices today, which were down this morning on concerns over whether or not OPEC will be able to come to an agreement on production.
September marked the second month in a row that Indian crude oil imports set record highs, with August imports up 9.1% year-over-year as well, according to the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell.
India imports over 80% of its crude oil requirements, and continues to look for new ways to increase its refining capacity to meet the needs of its 1.3 billion-person population. Indian Oil Corp. said in July that it would spend about 400 billion rupees (US$6 billion) to boost capacity by almost 30% in the next six years in order to meet domestic fuel demand. The investment should increase its refining capacity by roughly 2 MMBOPD.
The nation’s gasoline consumption grew 25% year-over-year in August, while demand for diesel rose 13%. Virendra Chauhan, an oil analyst at Singapore-based consulting firm Energy Aspects Ltd., expects India’s oil demand to grow by 0.4 million barrels a day this year and by 0.2-0.3 million barrels a day next year.
In a presentation yesterday by IRR, analysts forecast India to have $14 billion in active CapEx for oil and gas related projects in 2017-2018, with $4 billion of that going to crude oil related project builds.
Source: IRR
