Utilisation levels had elevated to 89% in June, but fell to 61% and 77% respectively in August and September.
With increasing consumption of petroleum merchandise, state-run refiner Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) ramped up the utilisation of its refineries to one hundred% of their style capacities in November. In the starting of the lockdown to include the coronavirus outbreak in March, IOCL had regulated crude oil via place at most of its refineries by 25% to 30%. The enterprise had kept all its refinery units on ‘hot standby’, which signifies the units had been prepared for scale-up anytime petrol and diesel demand picks up.
Utilisation levels had elevated to 89% in June, but fell to 61% and 77% respectively in August and September as some states resorted to implementing sporadic nearby lockdowns. The run price was 89% at October-finish. “As we get closer to the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, the fundamentals of the economy being strong, we see a rapid V-shaped recovery in the overall consumption of petroleum products,” SM Vaidya, chairman, IOCL stated.
Rise in refinery utilisation also coincides with rising gross refining margins (GRMs) of Indian refiners, as they continue to advantage from the low crude value atmosphere globally. While IOCL’s GRM in FY20, on a weighted typical basis, was only $.08/barrel in FY20, the similar grew to $3.46/barrel in April-September period. The total refining capacity of the nation is 249.9 MT per annum, and of this 69.7 MTPA is run by IOCL.