Page 150 - CW E-Magazine (5-12-2023)

Hydrocarbons

TRADE TRENDS

Indian oil imports from OPEC rise as Russian discount

narrows

Organization of the Petroleum oil needs and has encouraged refi ners data showed. That helped lift the share
Exporting Countries’ (OPEC’s) share to diversify to cheaper alternatives to of the producers in the OPEC to 54%
in India’s oil imports in October hit cut costs. The nation emerged as the in October, up from 50% in September,
a 10-month high as refi ners bought top buyer of the Russian seaborne oil according to the data.
more crude from Saudi Arabia and the sold at a discount after Western nations
United Arab Emirates after discounts stopped buying from Moscow follow- India imported on average 1.56 mil-
narrowed for Russian oil that month, ing its invasion of Ukraine. lion barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil
as per an analysis of trade data in October, up 1.2% from the previous
by Reuters. India imported about 4.7-million month, the data showed. Despite the
barrels per day (bpd) of crude in Octo- increase, Russian oil’s share in India’s
Russia’s share of the Indian market ber, up 8.4% from the previous month October imports slipped to 33% from
in October slipped to the lowest in nine as refi ners increased purchases to meet 35% in September.
months, according to Reuters calcula- higher local fuel demand during the fes-
tions based on ship tracking data from tive season, the data showed. Imports Russia was the top oil supplier to
trade sources. from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab India in April to October, the fi rst seven
Emirates jumped to a 7-month high, up months of this fi scal year to March
India typically relies on produ- about 53% and 63%, respectively, in 2024, followed by Iraq and Saudi
cers in the Middle East for most of its October from the previous month, the Arabia.

STOCKING UP
Govt. mulls building strategic natural gas reserve

India is drawing up a plan to build a India has evaluated building strate- can also help India become the regional
strategic natural gas reserve with a capa- gic gas storage in the past as part of its hub and supply to neighbouring coun-
city to store up to 4-billion cubic metres energy security plan but didn’t go ahead tries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
(BCM) of imported gas, which can be with it due to its prohibitive costs. The Myanmar in the future.
used in case of supply emergencies and geopolitics-driven frenzy in the global
to smoothen the domestic market. gas market last year, which disrupted The feasibility report will present
India’s gas imports and forced some cost estimates, probable locations, con-
India has 5-mn tonnes of strategic factories to cut production, is reported struction timelines, and the business
petroleum reserves but no storage faci- to have brought a strategic policy and fi nancial models for the reserves.
lities for natural gas. Indian companies rethink. Depleted wells of ONGC and Oil India
together currently hold 2-bcm of gas could be used for the storage. ONGC is
in pipelines and liquefi ed natural gas The 3-4 bcm gas storage capacity said to have already identifi ed two
tanks for commercial use. being targeted now can cost $1-2 bil- such wells in Gujarat while Oil India is
lion to build. India, which consumed aiming to do the same in the North East.
After Oil Minister Mr. Hardeep 60-bcm of natural gas last fi scal year,
Singh Puri recently gave a green sig- aims to increase the share of gas in its The report is expected to suggest
nal to the idea of setting up the gas energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the the most optimal storage model and
reserve, the oil ministry is reported to current 6%. answer questions on whether a strategic
have directed Oil and Natural Gas Corp. or commercial model or a mix of both
(ONGC), Oil India and GAIL to jointly A large multi-location storage, a would be suitable for the country. It
prepare a detailed feasibility report on well-laid pipeline network, and a would also offer details on the commer-
the same. The companies are expected mature gas exchange can help develop the cial model and the government support
to submit the report in three months. domestic gas market. Large gas storage needed to make it fi nancially viable.

150 Chemical Weekly December 5, 2023

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