Refinery throughput cut to 86% of capacity after second Covid wave: N Vijayagopal, director of finance, BPCL

With the second wave of Covid-19 impacting demand by 30% in May compared to April or May in any year before the pandemic, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) has reduced refining capacity to 86% this month from 105% in January-March 2021. N Vijayagopal, director of finance, BPCL tells Vikas Srivastava they expect demand to rise after June given the improvement in product cracks, which are higher in Q1FY22 compared to the best achieved in FY21. Edited excerpts.

What has been the impact of the Covid-19 second wave on demand and how is BPCL coping with it?