The Hindu Business Line : Oil import bill swells to $40 b

Due to high international crude prices, India's oil import bill went up to $40 billion in the first 11 months (April-February) of 2005-06. As per the latest data available with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, about 90.34 million tonnes of crude oil worth $34.95 billion and 10.63 million tonnes of petroleum products valued at $5.29 billion were imported during April-February 2005-06. The country's net oil import bill stood at $30.69 billion in April-February 2005-06. For the 2004-05 fiscal, the net oil import bill was $22.94 billion.

For the last fiscal (full year 2004-05), $25.98 billion was spent on import of 95.86 million tonnes of crude oil and $3.28 billion on import of 8.84 million tonnes of petroleum products. According to the data, the country exported 19.51 million tonnes of petroleum products for $9.55 billion in the 11 months of 2005-06. For the 2004-05 fiscal, total oil product exports stood at 17.57 million tonnes worth $6.33 billion.

During the period under review (April-February 2005-06), public sector oil companies imported 62.52 million tonnes of crude oil for $25.06 billion while private sector Reliance Industries imported 27.81 million tonnes of crude for $9.89 billion. State-owned companies imported 4.87 million tonnes of products, out of which the majority being liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 2.32 million tonnes for $1.25 billion.

According to the data, LPG imports were necessitated as Reliance refinery was shut down for nearly two months. The country's main exports in April-February 2005-06 remained diesel, with 7.64 million tonnes for total value of $3.8 billion. Other products exported included 2.02 million tonnes of petrol for $1.11 billion, 4.52 million tonnes of naphtha for $2.23 billion and 2.53 million tonnes of jet fuel for $1.42 billion, the data said.

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