Page 152 - CW E-Magazine (7-11-2023)

Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons

PETROLEUM TRENDS Technology (ICAT) and the Automotive turers and testing agencies. Fuel retai- vehicle testing purposes, the fuel has
Research Association of India. lers like IOC sell petrol and diesel to be of a higher grade than premium
Petroleum products output rises 4% in H1 of primarily two kinds – regular and petrol and diesel, with specifi c values
For decades, India relied on imports premium. The biggest difference for a host of parameters including from
India’s production of crude oil The country imported 4.0-mt of petro- for the month of September. Oil and to meet the demand for these specialised between the two lies in the octane Cetane number, fl ash point, viscosity,
remained unchanged at 2.4-mt in Sep- leum products in September, up from Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) pro- fuels. But now, IOC has indigenously number. While regular fuel typically sulphur & water content, acid number,
tember this year and 14.7-mt in the 3.2-mt last September. India’s import duced 1.5-mt of crude oil in September, developed products that will replace boasts an octane number of 87, pre- etc. Since the volume requirements for
Apr-Sep period from their correspond- bill for petroleum products rose to lower than its target of 1.6-mt. imports, ensuring a reliable supply at a mium fuels have an octane number such fuels are not very high, refi neries
ing period last year. Production of $2.0-bn in September, up from $1.8-bn much lower cost for vehicle manufac- of 91 or even more. However, for did not produce them.
petroleum products, however, rose 5.5% in the same period last year. However, Crude oil imports increased by
on year to 21.5-mt in September, and the import bill declined for the Apr-Sep 6.1% and 0.4% in September and Apr- Sri Lankan Government renews Lanka IOC’s petroleum
by 3.8% to 136.3-mt in the fi rst half of period to $10.7-bn from $14-bn in the Sep. respectively, compared to the cor-
FY23 (131.4-mt). corresponding period of last year. responding period of the previous year. licence for 20 years
As compared to net import bill for oil
According to data from the Petro- Export of petroleum products fell to and gas for September 2022 of $10.8-bn, The Sri Lankan Government has re- Financial Offi cer of LIOC said in a crucial in the energy sector. It operates
leum Planning and Analysis Cell 30.9-mt during Apr-Sep, from 31.5-mt the net import bill for oil and gas for newed the petroleum products licence statement. “The licence enables LIOC over 200 retail outlets throughout the
(PPAC), of the total 21.5-mt produced in the fi rst half of last fi nancial year. September 2023 was $10.0-bn. Out of granted to Lanka IOC (LIOC), the to import, export, store, transport, dis- island nation. Since the economic crisis
in September, 21.2-mt came from refi - this, crude oil imports constitute $10.6-bn, local subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation tribute, sell and supply petrol diesel, came to bite Sri Lanka, it liberalised the
nery production and the remaining India consumed 18.2-mt of petro- LNG imports $1.2-bn and the ex- (IOC), for another 20 years. The licence heavy diesel, furnace oil, kerosene, energy sector.
from fractionators. The share of HSD leum products in September, up by ports were $3.9-bn during September originally issued in 2003 was to expire naphtha and other mineral petroleum China’s Sinopec entered in August
(High Speed Diesel) was the high- 7.7% from last September. Consump- 2023. in January 2024. This will allow Lanka including premium petrol and premium as the third player in the retail fuel
est at 41.6%, followed by MS (Motor tion grew by 5.9% to 113.7-mt in the IOC to continue its retail operations diesel,” it added. trade while USA’s RM Parks and
Spirit) at 16.6% and Naphtha at 6.4%. fi rst half of FY24, compared with the The price of Indian crude basket on the debt-trapped island nation until The LIOC holds around 20 per- Australia’s United Petroleum are also
Aviation Turbine Fuel constituted 6.0% H1FY23. Of the total crude oil produc- averaged $93.54 per barrel during Sep- January 22, 2044. cent of the market share in the auto due to commence operations soon. The
of the total POL production and LPG tion, Oil India Ltd. (OIL) was able to tember this year, as against $90.71 in The licence renewal letter was handed fuel segment in Sri Lanka. When government’s decision to extend Lanka
(Liquifi ed Petroleum Gas) was at 4.1%. reach its target production of 0.27-mt September last year. over by President Ranil Wickremesinghe Sri Lanka plunged into an economic IOC’s petroleum licence was, however,
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE to Mr. Dipak Das, the Managing Director crisis with no forex to import petroleum panned by the main opposition party
of LIOC, Mr. Aseem Bhargav, the Chief products, the LIOC operation became Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
BPCL posts consolidated Q2 net profi t of Rs. 8,244-crore DEMAND TRENDS

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corpo- FY24 from Rs. 1.28 lakh-crore each 8.82-mt in Q2 FY23. Market sales were Natural gas consumption rises 7 percent in Apr-Sept.
ration (BPCL) has reported a consoli- in Q1 FY24 and Q2 FY23. The com- 12.19-mt in Q2 FY24 compared to
dated net profi t of 8,244-crore in the pany’s gross refi ning margins (GRM) 11.44-mt in Q2 FY23. India’s natural gas consumption re- Japan Korea Marker (JKM), the liq- also helped drive consumption. This
July-September quarter this fi scal year for the period April-September 2023 bounded 7% year-on-year in the fi scal uefi ed natural gas (LNG) spot market allowed city gas distributors to reduce
from a net loss of Rs. 338-crore. How- was $15.42 per barrel versus $22.30 in During April to September 2023, fi rst half, reversing a decline last year, benchmark for North Asia, surged to their intake of expensive LNG and offer
ever, on a sequential basis, the oil mar- the corresponding comparative period the throughput was 19.71-mt against as international gas prices and supplies nearly $70 per mmbtu in August 2022 cheaper domestic gas to CNG vehicle
keting company’s net profi t declined before factoring in the impact of Spe- 18.51-mt in the comparative period. normalised. Consumption rose to 32.6 but has since plummeted to around $18. drivers.
from Rs. 10,644-crore in Q1 FY24. cial Additional Excise Duty and Road & The market sales during the same billion cubic metres (bcm) in the April- Most of India’s long-term contracts for
Infrastructure Cess, levied from July period increased to 24.94 MT from September period, according to oil minis- LNG imports are benchmarked to crude This year’s demand expansion has
The company’s revenue from opera- 1, 2022. In Q2 FY24, the throughput 23.20-mt in the comparative period try data. For the full year ended March oil, which has also been more stable come mainly from power plants, city
tions fell to Rs. 1.17-lakh-crore in Q2 was 9.35-million tonnes (mt) against (a growth of 7.50 percent). 31, 2023 consumption stood at 60-bcm, than last year. gas distributors, and refi neries. Refi -
nearly the same level as in 2018-19. neries, which account for about 8% of
IMPORT SUBSTITUTION A 4% rise in domestic produc- India’s total gas consumption, increased
Gas consumption rose 5% in 2019-20 tion of natural gas, which has tradi- their consumption by 28% this year.
IOC starts producing ‘reference’ petrol, diesel for before falling by a similar percentage point tionally been cheaper than imported Spiralling prices last year prompted refi -
the subsequent year as the pandemic cur- fuel, has also aided local consump- ners as well as many other industries to
testing automobiles tailed demand. It expanded 5% in 2021-22, tion. India imports about 46% of the switch to liquid fuel. Meanwhile, rising
boosted by the post-pandemic recovery gas it consumes. A change in poli- electricity demand has boosted gas
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has for testing automobiles, for the fi rst calibrating and testing by automobile but fell by a similar volume again in the cies, which made locally produced use in power generation by 18% year-
begun producing specialised ‘refe- time in India. These fuels, which have manufacturers and testing agencies like succeeding year, weighed down by record gas more affordable while increasing on-year. The power sector accounts for
rence’ petrol and diesel, which are used higher specifi cations, are critical for the International Centre for Automotive high prices in the international markets. its allocation to city gas distributors, 14% of India’s natural gas consumption.

152 Chemical Weekly November 7, 2023 Chemical Weekly November 7, 2023 153

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