Industry & Economy
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Petroleum
Crude oil imports up 7.4% in Jan on higher demand
Our Bureau
New Delhi, Feb. 25
Crude oil imports in January rose 7.4 per cent from the corresponding month last year. This was mainly due to increase in demand by auto fuel dealers ahead of an expected rise in retail prices.
The domestic sales of oil products in January increased by 4.3 per cent to 11.20 million tonne (mt) compared to the corresponding period last year.
The refiners imported 10.04 mt of crude, according to the Government data. The domestic demand for oil products is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent to 132 mt by 2011-12.
During the first 10 months of the current fiscal (April-January), crude imports stood at 101.26 mt, up 9.9 per cent from 92.12 mt the previous year.
According to officials, “refiners imported more crude for higher petroleum product exports, mainly petrol and diesel, to take advantage of the strong margins.”
According to the data, diesel sales grew by an annual 15.9 per cent in January, while petrol by 14.5 per cent. Petrol and diesel sales in January were high as dealers maintained high inventories in expectation of a fuel price hike. April-January saw sales of diesel growing 10.5 per cent from a year earlier, while petrol rose 11.9 per cent.
Oil product exports saw a 11.4 per cent increase to 2.86 mt in January (2.56 mt in the same month last year). Diesel exports during the month were up 30 per cent and petrol sales overseas rose 28.7 per cent. “The growth in diesel and petrol exports were driven by private refiners,” the official said.
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