Demand pushes IOC to defer expansion

Vaidya said oil demand in India has only deferred and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) was also betting big on petrochemicals to hedge fuel shocks. Liquid fuels such as petrol and diesel will continue to play a dominant role in the country in the next two decades despite a creeping increase in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and cleaner fuels like gas. “You see the pie is also increasing. While we see EVs growing, the oil will remain a dominant fuel,” he said. “Even BP in its latest world energy outlook has projected India’s oil consumption to double to 10 million barrels by 2050.”

 In 2018, an Oil Ministry report had projected oil refining capacity will rise to 439 million tonnes by 2030 from the current 250 million tonnes, to meet the rising fuel demand of a fast-expanding economy.

 IOC, which currently owns and operates 11 out of the country’s 23 refineries, had plans to double refining capacity to 150 MT per annum by 2030 from 80.7 MT per annum. “I firmly believe demand has only got deferred. So the condition is such that we would like to once again assess the demand-supply. Nothing has been shelved as such but maybe deferred slightly,” he reiterated.

 IOC’s plan for raising the capacity of Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25 MT from 15 MT may be pushed back by a few years. IOC is also adding 3 MT of capacity at Barauni refinery in Bihar as well as adding a 9 MT unit at Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd, its subsidiary.