Private firms and state-held Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) pumped less oil from some of their fields in India in July, driving total domestic Indian crude oil production down by 3.8 percent in July compared to the same month of 2021.
India's crude oil production dropped to 2.45 million tons last month, from 2.54 million tons in July last year, Indian media reported on Tuesday, citing government data from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
ONGC-operated oilfields pumped 1.7 percent less crude in July 2022 due to lower production from offshore western India. Oil output at private firm-operated oilfields slumped by 12.34 percent year over year in July, according to the data.
Indian oil production so far this fiscal year that began in April has been only slightly lower compared to the same period last year, per the government data.
Refinery processing ran very strong in both July and April-July this year. Last month, India's refineries operated at over 100 of their capacity, compared to 91.58 percent utilization in July 2021. Between April and July, refinery utilization hit 103.87 percent of capacity, up from 92.01 percent for the same period last year. Global refining margins soared in the second quarter of this year amid tight supply and a rebound in fuel demand.
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India, which is the world's third-largest crude oil importer and whose imports make up around 80 percent of its oil consumption, saw its crude imports in July drop from June by 3.2 percent at 4.63 million barrels per day (bpd), due to planned maintenance at some refineries beginning in August, Reuters reported last week, quoting data it had obtained from trade and industry sources.
In July, India's oil imports from Russia fell for the first time month-on-month since March as Russian spot prices strengthened amid high demand in Asia, according to the data. Indian imports of Russian crude fell by 7.3 percent from June, but Russia remained India's second-biggest oil supplier after Iraq. Saudi Arabia is still India's third-biggest supplier, with shipments surging by 25.6 percent in July to the highest in three months, according to the data Reuters obtained.
By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com
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