India’s state-owned refiners raised their runs in October as they anticipated demand to improve in the fourth quarter of 2021. IOCL, the country’s largest refiner, is running its plants at about 85% of capacity and is likely to increase it further to 90% in the second half of this month and to more than 95% next month. IOCL is also rescheduling the planned maintenance at its 161,000 bpd refinery. Meanwhile, its 120,000 bpd Barauni refinery remains under repairs after an explosion in September.
HPCL and MRPL are operating their plants at maximum capacity in October, industry sources said. BPCL is running its 310,000 bpd Kochi refinery and 156,000 bpd Bina refinery at maximum capacity. Meanwhile, its 240,000 bpd Mumbai refinery is ramping up to 100% after a turnaround in September.
India’s gasoline consumption reached 732,000 bpd in September, 10% above the pre-pandemic level. Meanwhile, diesel demand came in at 1.37 million bpd, about 5.6% below the pre-pandemic level. India’s diesel and gasoline demand are expected to improve further amid the festival season toward the end of the year.
