Page 149 - CW E-Magazine (29-10-2024)

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STORAGE STRATEGY TRADE TRENDS
ISPRL to award leases to top up strategic oil reserves India’s oil imports from Russian up by over 11%

in September
State-owned Indian Strategic one-tenth of the duration available in
Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), which many developed nations.
operates India’s strategic crude oil storage, India’s crude oil imports from Russia were more than double Iraq’s 867,600-bpd,
will make awards by December to ADNOC, which had leased half of rose by 11.7% to about 1.9-million the data showed. India also resumed
lease around 1-mt of crude oil storage the Mangalore SPR capacity, is said barrels per day (bpd) in September, its imports of Venezuelan oil in Sep-
space (7.3-million barrels) at two of the to be in talks with ISPRL to renew the accounting for about two-fi fths of tember after a gap of two months,
country’s three existing Strategic Petro- lease for another seven years and to the nation’s overall crude imports in with private refi ner Reliance Indus-
leum Reserves (SPRs), around a fi fth seek participation in the second phase the month, tanker data obtained from tries Ltd. receiving a cargo, the data
of the total SPR capacity. of India’s SPR buildout. industry sources by Reuters showed. showed.
This will enable the refi lling of ISPRL also awarded a tender in Overall, refi ners in India imported The market share accounted for
crude caverns even as escalating hos- barrels). Around 70% of the existing February to rent out 300,000 tonnes a total of 4.7-million bpd of crude oil by producers from the Organization
tilities in the Gulf threaten disruptions SPR capacity is currently fi lled, with of the Vizag SPR to state-run refi ner in September, marginally higher than for about 43% of India’s overall of the Petroleum Exporting Coun-
in crude supplies. ISPRL is reportedly ISPRL holding about 60%. The rest of HPCL after New Delhi decided to in August and about 8.5% more than imports, up from 38.5% in August, the tries (OPEC), mainly from the Middle
evaluating offers to rent out 224,000 the capacity is empty because it is being reduce the government’s share of strate- the same month a year ago, the data data showed. East and Africa, declined marginally
tonnes (1.62-million barrels) of oil stor- leased out. gic crude storage and increase outsider showed. between April and September from
age space in the Visakhapatnam crude participation. During April-September, the fi rst the same period a year ago, a Reuters
storage facility and one of the two cav- ISPRL has stored crude in Padur The refi ners have invested billions six months of the fi scal year to March analysis of the data showed.
erns with a capacity of 760,000 tonnes and part of Vizag, while UAE’s state- The government plans to build a of dollars in plant upgrades, allowing 2025, India’s imports of Russian oil
(5.6-million barrels) in Mangalore. The owned ADNOC has leased the second combined 48-million-barrels second them to process more crude grades, in rose 9.1% to 1.91-million bpd, the data Imports from the Middle East fell to
space will be leased for two years, with cavern in Mangalore. phase of strategic storage at Padur and an effort to reduce costs. showed. about a 41.6% share in April-September
a one-year extension. at Chandikhol on India’s east coast. from 43.8% a year earlier, the data
India imports around 4.7-million Crude from the Commonwealth of Russia remained India’s top oil sup- showed. Indian refi ners mostly buy
India has three SPRs at Visakha- barrels per day (bpd) of crude, and the India does not have strategic gas Independent States, comprising Russia, plier in September, followed by Iraq Middle Eastern oil under annual con-
patnam (9.7-million barrels), Mangalore 39-million barrels of existing SPR capa- storage capacity, although the govern- Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, accounted and Saudi Arabia. Russian oil imports tracts with producers in the region.
(11-million barrels), and Padur (18-million city suffi ce for just 8.3 days – less than ment has been considering it for years. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
PROJECT UPDATE MRPL reports Rs. 682-crore loss in Q2
HPCL looking to start LNG terminal in Gujarat Mangalore Refi nery and Petro-

by December chemicals Ltd. (MRPL) has recorded
a loss after tax of Rs. 682.32-crore in
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation three-month fair-weather window that the second quarter of FY25 against a
Ltd. (HPCL) is seeking a liquefi ed begins in November to commission the net profi t of Rs. 1,059.29-crore in the
natural gas (LNG) cargo to commission LNG terminal. corresponding period of FY24.
its new import terminal in December or
January, and is in talks with between The terminal and related infrastruc- MRPL’s revenue from operations
eight and nine companies for long-term ture, including pipeline connectivity for stood at Rs. 28,786-crore during Q2 FY25
supply, a Reuters report said. LNG sale, are completed, according to against Rs. 22,844-crore in Q2 FY24.
the report. throughput of the refi nery stood at responding period of 2023-24. Com-
HPCL has built a 5-mtpa LNG Gross refi ning margin (GRM) of 4.58-mt, compared to 3.21-mt in Q2 FY24. pany’s revenue from operations was
import terminal at Chhara Gujarat, the HPCL is said to have received “a MRPL stood at $0.55 a barrel during at Rs. 56,075-crore during the period
country’s sixth. The company’s previ- good response” to its expression of Q2 FY25 against $17.11 a barrel in H1 loss (Rs. 47,669-crore in H1 of 2023-24).
ous attempts to commission the plant in interest seeking LNG supplies for 15 the corresponding period of the previ- The loss after tax of the company A media statement said that MRPL’s
April failed due to the bad weather. years. It is seeking one LNG cargo per ous fi nancial year. GRM is the diffe- stood at Rs. 617-crore during the fi rst marketing terminal at Devangonthi in
month beginning from late 2026 or early rence between the price of crude oil and six months of 2024-25 against a profi t Bengaluru was commissioned during
The company wants to use the 2027, priced on a Brent-linked basis. end products. During Q2 FY25, total after tax of Rs. 2,072-crore in the cor- August.

148 Chemical Weekly October 29, 2024 Chemical Weekly October 29, 2024 149

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