India's crude imports hit a decade low in July, falling by a record 36pc or 1.67mn b/d on the year because of a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown and sliding refining throughput.
Last month's imports of 2.92mn b/d, the lowest since records began in April 2011, dropped from 4.59mn b/d a year earlier and 3.34mn b/d in June, according to preliminary oil ministry data.
Indian state-run refiners, which control around 65pc of the country's 5mn b/d refining capacity, were forced to slash runs to as low as 75pc during July-August from over 90pc in early July as localised lockdowns reduced economic activity and disrupted supply chains. The July-September monsoon period also eroded demand for diesel.
India's overall refining runs rose in June to 4.28mn b/d from 3.86mn b/d in May. The country's five-month lockdown that is supposed to end on 31 August may be extended further following a surge in Covid-19 cases, which are now nearing 3mn. India is the third most-infected nation after the US and Brazil despite very low levels of testing, according to Oxford University's Our World in Data.
Crude purchases may continue to stay below year-earlier levels in August because state-run refiners are adjusting runs in line with demand. IOC, India's biggest state-controlled refiner, plans to keep throughput below 75pc until demand rises.
Data from Vortexa show 3.26mn b/d of crude arriving in India in July, compared to 3.43mn b/d in June and 3.68mn b/d so far in August.
Diesel consumption fell by 19pc during the first two weeks of August from a month earlier and was down by 23pc from the same period in 2019, state-controlled refiners said, without giving actual demand figures. Gasoline demand edged up by 2pc in the first half of August from a month earlier but fell by 6pc from a year earlier. Jet fuel sales declined by 2pc and by 66pc from a month and year earlier, respectively.
Diesel demand reached 1.33mn b/d in July, while gasoline demand averaged 617,000 b/d, according to oil ministry figures, which include sales by private-sector firms.
