MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, has cut crude processing at its refineries by 25% to 30% as local demand for refined fuel is hit following complete lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus, it said in a statement, said Reuters.
India has imposed a sweeping lockdown of its 1.3 billion people on Wednesday for 21 days, and is only allowing the supply of essential commodities. The move prompted several industries to shut operations and some ports in the country to declare force majeure.
"In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the demand for petroleum products like petrol, diesel, fuel oil, bitumen, etc., have reduced substantially. The demand for ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) has also come down sharply due to suspension of flights,” it said, adding only demand for cooking gas is rising.
State-owned Indian Oil controls about a third of India’s 5 million barrels per day (bpd) refining capacity.
Other state oil refiners are also reducing crude processing as local fuel demand has tumbled.
As MRC informed earlier, India Bharat Petroleum Corp has deferred the shutdown of secondary units at its Kochi and Mumbai refineries due to shortage of manpower and material to carry out the turnaround job.
As MRC informed earlier, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) will invest about Rs25,000 crore to set up an ethylene cracker plant at Rasayani, 50 kilometres from its Mumbai refinery, as the firm pushes further into the petrochemicals business to fuel growth.
BPCL will commission its Rs5,236 crore Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) at Kochi refinery for manufacturing niche petrochemicals in the next six months. To expand its product portfolio further, BPCL is investing Rs11,130 crore to set up a facility in Kochi refinery for manufacturing Polyols, Propylene Glycol and Mono-Ethylene Glycol.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
MRC