India's Reliance posts 1% rise in July-Sep crude throughput on year

India's Reliance Industries Ltd. posted a 1% year-on-year rise in crude throughput to 20.2 million mt (1.6 million b/d) in the July-September quarter, despite its oil-to-chemicals business being hit by unfavorable market conditions, the company said Oct. 14.

Robust growth in the upstream business helped to partially offset the relatively weak contribution from the O2C business, said Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Meanwhile, segment revenue for the O2C business increased by 5.1% on the year to $ 18.6 billion in the quarter, mainly because of higher volumes and increased domestic placement of products, the company said.

"Unfavorable demand-supply balance led to sharp 50% decline in transportation fuel cracks and continued weakness in downstream chemical deltas," the company added in a statement.

"Cracks of gasoline, gasoil and jet/kerosene declined from elevated levels a year ago, due to softer demand growth along with additional supply from new refineries commissioned in Middle East, Asia Pacific and Nigeria," the company said.

Domestic demand for high-speed diesel, gasoline and jet fuel increased by 0.1%, 7.3% and 9.4% respectively, over the same quarter last year.

Polymer, polyester demand

Domestic polymer and polyester demand during the quarter declined by 5% and 7% on the year, respectively, due to seasonal factors, Reliance said.

Polyethylene demand was down 12% mainly due to a high base effect of the same quarter a year earlier, which had witnessed higher imports due to multi-year low prices.

Meanwhile, polyvinyl chloride demand was up 3% due to the continuing focus on government-sponsored schemes for the farm and infrastructure sectors, while in the polyester segment, polyethylene terephthalate demand was down 10% year on year due to an extended monsoon season.

In other news, Reliance's share of production in the KG-D6 block was 69.3 Bcfe in the quarter, compared with 68.3 Bcfe produced in the year-ago quarter. The average price realized for KG-D6 gas was $9.55/MMBtu in the quarter, compared with $10.46/MMBtu in the year-ago period.

"The first of our new energy gigafactories is on track to commence the production of solar PV modules by the end of this year. With a comprehensive range of renewable solutions including solar, energy storage systems, green hydrogen, bio-energy and wind, the new energy business is poised to become a significant contributor to global clean energy transition," Reliance added.