Oil refineries improve run rate; Reliance cuts crude processing for 3rd straight month

New Delhi: Indian oil refineries improved operating run rate to an average of 77 per cent of capacity in May as easing of lockdown restrictions helped bring back some of the lost fuel demand, according to oil ministry data. Refineries, which had in April cut down operating rate to as low as 30-40 per cent as lockdown took most vehicles off road, processed 16.34 million tonnes of crude oil in May, 11 per cent more than April but 24 per cent less than a year earlier.

Reliance IndustriesNSE -0.09 % Ltd, which operates the world’s biggest oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, cut crude processing for a third straight month in May. Its twin refineries operated at an average capacity of 91.72 per cent in May, down from 94.8 per cent in April and 95.4 per cent in March.