Reliance's Aug crude imports at 1.22 mln bpd-trade

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30 Sep 2009

Crude oil imports by India's Reliance Industries, owner of the world's biggest refining complex, rose nearly 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August from July, with Saudi Arabia taking share from absent suppliers Venezuela, Iraq and Russia, shipping data from sources showed. Reliance imported about 1.224 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude last month, up from about 1.078 million bpd the month before and around 549,000 bpd a year ago, according to the data supplied to Reuters by trade sources.
Notable new additions to the roster included crude from Alba field in UK, Albacora from Brazil and Hungo from Angola.
Imports from top world producer Saudi Arabia in August doubled from July to 244,600 bpd, to be up nearly 51 percent from last year, with the kingdom emerging as its largest crude oil supplier from No 2 position year ago, the data showed.
The absence of some countries was equally notable. Reliance failed to import any oil from Iraq after resuming imports in April following a three-year gap; Venezuela, it's No. 3 supplier a year ago, was also missing from the list; and imports from Iran fell about 31 percent last month, slipping to 4th position from No. 1 year ago.
Last December, Reliance commissioned a new 580,000 bpd refinery, next to its old 660,00 bpd plant at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state, and it is operating at about full rate, the firm's executive director P.M.S. Prasad said earlier this month.
Since the start-up of the new plant, Reliance has been continuously diversifying its crude slate, making several new and rare purchases, taking advantage of the complexity of its plants that allow it to improve margins by processing heavy grades.
The Neutral Zone -- a region whose production belongs to both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and includes grades such as Khafji, Ratawi and Eocene -- was the third-largest source of supplies for the refiner in August, after Angola.
Imports from Neutral Zone rose more than four times to 129,000 bpd.

Source: Reuters