|
New Delhi: India's crude processing grew 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year ended March, bolstered by new capacities in Asia's third-largest oil consumer, government data showed on Friday.
The country refined 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in 2007-08 as state-run units operated at higher rate to meet local demand while private refiners continued to look overseas for better margins.
Essar Oil commissioned a 210,000 bpd plant at Vadinar in western India and Indian Oil Corp doubled the capacity of its Panipat refinery in northern India to 240,000 bpd, both in the second half 2006-07 but they reached full capacity only in 2007-08.
Indian refinery throughput was 3.2 million bpd in March, little changed from year earlier, due to maintenance shutdown at some state-run refineries.
Boost
Indian refinery processing will get a fillip in the next few years as it plans to add 2.14 million bpd by 2012 to its existing 2.98 million bpd capacity.
India expects domestic demand to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent to 132 million tonnes by 2012.
Refiners used 107.2 per cent of their installed capacity in March against 111.3 per cent a year ago, while on a yearly basis in 2007-08 capacity utilisation was 104.8 per cent, down from 106.8 per cent the previous year.
Throughput of Indian refineries has been growing as firms expand to tap global markets where they can sell at prices higher than India's state-regulated retail rates.
|
