Crude Oil Imports Fall By 22% Biggest Since July, Diesel Exports Witness Decline Of 24%: Government Data

The import of crude oil declined by 21.6 per cent from a year earlier to 15.14 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas showed. While Diesel shipments continued to hold a major share of the total exports, were also down 24 per cent on-year to 2.37 million tonnes

Representational Picture (AFP)

In October, the crude oil imports in the country posted the biggest fall and for the seventh-month year-on-year decline, as the country entered lockdown due to Covid-19 crisis in late march which led to reduced mobility, cold industry furnaces resulting in lower consumption of fuel, according to the government data released on Monday. India is the third-largest crude oil importer of the world, the data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas showed, the import declined by 21.6 per cent from a year earlier to 15.14 million tonnes, or 3.58 million barrels per day (BPD). Citing the Covid-19 crisis, resulting in the declined import Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai, told the media, "Due to the surging coronavirus cases, travel is still being avoided in tier two and tier three cities and that along with muted air travel is weighing on oil demand in India.” "Also, when we come across such a huge fall (in imports), it generally points towards the fact that the existing demand is already being met by inventory from prior months,” he further added. The import of oil products in October were down by 53 per cent to 1.65 million tonnes. On the other hand, not only the imports but also the exports of refined products fell 35.7 per cent in October from a year ago to 3.84 million tonnes and were down 20 per cent from 4.80 million tonnes in September. While, Diesel shipments continued to hold a major share of the total exports, were also down 24 per cent on-year to 2.37 million tonnes and fell 11.2 per cent on a month-on-month basis. Exports of gasoline, or petrol, were down by 19.8 per cent to 797,000 tonnes as compared to the last year. India ranks second in the coronavirus case tally and stands after the United States with 9.14 cases, out of which 8.56 million have recovered till now. According to Shah, with the economic activities picking up the pace and the Covid-19 graph seem to flatten, factory activity is picking up and oil demand should rise in the next two to three months. As per reports, India's factory activity in October expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade.