Petroleum product exports up 3% in Apr-Nov

INDIA'S EXPORTS OF petroleum products increased by almost 3% to 42 million tonne during April-November from 40.9 million tonne in the corresponding period of last fiscal, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

- ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ

In November, however, the shipments were down 7% year-on-year to 5.3 million tonne, driven by a significant fall in the supplies to Europe.

In value terms, the country exported $31.2 billion worth of petroleum products in April-November, down 1.3% from $31.6 billion in the year-ago period. Imports of refined oil products increased 6.3% to 33.9 million tonne, up from 31.9 million tonne in April-November 2023. The import bill for refined oil products also increased by 6.6% to $16.1 billion compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Europe is increasingly turning out to be the brightest market for Indian oil product exporters that have capitalized on the shortages of diesel and other fuels due to geopolitical tensions and are shipping plentiful cargoes, a trend that is set to spill over to next year, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.