Crude oil processing by Indian refiners rose about 10% year-on-year in February, provisional government data showed, as demand within the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer grew.
Throughput in February rose 9.8% to 5.35 MMbpd (20.44 MMt), the information showed on Thursday.
But processing fell 5.8% from January, with a drop at Indian Oil Corp's Bongaigaon Refinery in Assam thanks to an influence failure.
India's fuel consumption had its biggest year-on-year jump since August 2021, up 5.4% in February compared with the identical month in 2021, although soaring oil prices because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine could slow the recovery.
"It was always expected that we'd quickly see demand recover once it became clear that the newest (coronavirus) variant wasn't nearly as threatening as people who preceded it," said senior analyst at OANDA.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week that India was set to become the third largest refiner after its downward revision to Russia's throughput forecast amid the continued war in Ukraine.
Average 2022 oil deliveries from India are going to be 20,000 bpd above 2019 levels, the IEA added.
Natural gas output, meanwhile, jumped 12.8% to 2.60 Bm3 year-on-year in February, while rock oil production fell about 2.2% to around 594,000 bpd (2.27 MMt), the information showed.
Crude output from drilling wells and also the Oil and fossil fuel Corp was below expected, the govt release said.
OANDA's Erlam said the impact of high prices on demand would depend partly on whether any measures are taken.
State fuel retailers will raise petrol and diesel pump prices by 12 rupees ($0.0905) per liter from Today, the primary hike since November, two dealers told Reuters
