India's crude imports and oil product exports rose last month as Indian state-controlled refineries operated at maximum or higher capacity. India imported 4.5mn b/d of crude and condensate in February, up from January's 4.3mn b/d, preliminary data from oil analytics firm Vortexa showed. The country imports over 80pc of its crude requirements, most of it from the Middle East. Shipments from the region remained unchanged at 3mn b/d in February from the previous month. But there was a 91pc fall in crude imports from Russia to 4,500 b/d from 69,000 b/d in January. The largest quantity was imported from Africa with a 34pc increase from January and from the Americas, especially from North America, with a 24pc rise on the month. Crude deliveries rose to 640,000 b/d from 476,000 b/d in January from Africa and to 758,000 b/d from 614,000 b/d in January from the Americas. As in January, the most popular grade among Indian refiners was Iraqi Basrah Heavy, although imports declined to 542,000 b/d from 551,000 b/d in January. India also took 510,000 b/d of Saudi Arab Light in February, up from 344,000 b/d the previous month, while shipments of Basrah Medium rose to 503,000 b/d from 344,000 b/d, according to Vortexa.
The growth in imports was driven by the country's refiners ramping up throughput in February, as well as a rise in exports of refined products. India's oil product exports increased to 1.46mn b/d in February from 1.37mn b/d in January, according to Vortexa. Exports of clean petroleum products — including gasoil, gasoline, naphtha and jet fuel — rose to 1.43mn b/d from 1.34mn b/d, while shipments of dirty products such as bitumen and fuel oil dropped to 25,700 b/d from 36,400 b/d. Diesel and gasoil made up the largest share of India's exports, although shipments fell to 581,800 b/d from 593,600 b/d. Around 74pc of India's total oil product exports were from ports close to India's private-sector refineries, the Vortexa data show. Some 63pc was exported from Sikka, where Reliance Industries operates the 1.24mn b/d Jamnagar refinery complex, and 11pc from Vadinar, where Russian-owned Nayara Energy operates a 400,000 b/d refinery. Another 11pc was shipped from state-controlled MRPL's 300,000 b/d New Mangalore refinery. The top destination was Singapore, which accounted for around 14pc of India's total product exports in February.