India's crude oil imports fall about 36.4% in July

24 Aug 2020 Evaluate

The data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas showed that India's crude oil imports fell in July to their lowest since March 2010 as fuel demand slowed amid renewed coronavirus-induced lockdowns and closures of refinery units for maintenance.

Crude oil imports slumped about 36.4% in July from a year earlier to 12.34 million tonnes, or 2.92 million barrels per day. That marked a fourth straight monthly decline. Fuel demand in the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer also fell, posting a fifth consecutive year-on-year drop.

The data showed that refined product imports surged 46.4% to 4.07 million tonnes year-on-year, mainly due to a sharp jump in India's fuel oil imports. Fuel oil imports rose to record 1.22 million tonnes in July from 127,000 tonnes a year ago. However, exports of refined products fell 22.7% in July to 3.92 million tonnes, their lowest since April 2018.

As per the data, diesel shipments continued to hold a major share of the total exports at 2.06 million tonnes, down 21.1 per cent year on year. Demand for diesel, which is widely used for transportation as well as for irrigation needs in India, fell about 19.3% year-on-year to 5.52 million tonnes, in July.

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