The Hindu Business Line : Govt estimates petro product demand for 2008-09 at 133 mt

New Delhi, Feb. 17 India’s demand for petroleum products during 2008-09 is estimated to be 133.4 million tonne (mt), the Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mr Murli Deora, informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The estimate was higher by 4.5 mt (about 0.10 million barrels a day) compared with 2007-08. “With the commissioning of a new refinery in the Jamnagar SEZ, the crude requirement is expected to increase in the first quarter of 2009 by about 0.15 million barrels a day,” he said.

To another question, the Minister replied that bulk of country’s crude oil demand is met by the West Asian countries — Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait. Crude oil is also imported in significant quantities from Nigeria, Malaysia and Angola, the Minister said.

During the last three years, import of some crude oil from the Caspian Sea region, particularly Azerbaijan, has also been made, he said.

The Minister also informed that the Foreign Minister of Turkey, during his visit to India in February 2008, had outlined a proposal for cooperation between Turkey, Israel and India for transportation of crude oil from the Caspian region through the Mediterranean and Red Sea and into India.

Turkey project

This project envisages transport of crude oil from Ceyhan port in Turkey to Ashkelon port in Israel in the Mediterranean Sea, initially through very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and eventually by laying a sub-sea pipeline. Thereafter, crude oil will be transported through the existing Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline in Israel to Eilat port on the Red Sea. From there, crude oil may be carried to India/other parts of Asia.

“The project is still in a conceptual stage and requires a detailed feasibility study to establish its techno-commercial viability. A tripartite meeting between Turkey, Israel and India was held in September 2008 at Ankara to discuss conceptual features of the project,” he said.

Since the project is still in the conceptual stage, the cost of such oil can not be determined at this juncture, he said.