Indian refiners’ throughput in October rose over 3% year-on-year to 5.04 million barrels per day (21.3 million metric tons), provisional government data showed on Friday.

“As exports didn’t rise m/m (month-on-month) the refinery increase is the result of higher domestic demand, which still benefits from solid economic growth in India,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

India’s crude oil imports rose about 3.9% in October to 19.52 million metric tons on a monthly basis, while total product exports plunged over 22%, government data showed.

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, saw demand rising by 2.9% year-on-year in October to 20.04 million tons, oil ministry data showed earlier this month, driven by strong economic activity.

Meanwhile, India’s monthly intake of Russian oil increased by 3.3% in October to a three-month high of 1.95 million barrels per day (bpd), accounting for about two-fifths of overall imports, data provided by trade sources show.

The country’s state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS is looking at raising its annual crude import deal with Iraq to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, up about 43% from this year, a company source said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)