Reliance Increases Fuel Sales in India

Reliance Industries Ltd., operator of the world’s largest refining complex, increased its share of sales in India to meet growing demand for fuels.

The Mumbai-based energy explorer and refiner sold 20.65 million metric tons of fuels in the South Asian nation in the nine months ended Dec. 31 compared with 8.01 million tons a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on export figures released by the company on 22nd Jan. The numbers were confirmed by a Reliance spokesman, who declined to be identified in line with company policy.

The company gave up the export-only status of its first refinery in April in light of the global recession after completing in December 2008 a 580,000 barrel-a-day refinery that caters to overseas customers. Domestic sales as a share of output rose to 47 percent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with 33 percent a year earlier, according to data released by the company.

Customers include Indian Oil Corp., the largest state-run refiner, which started purchasing diesel and gasoline from Reliance in April. “Buying fuels from Reliance Group reduces our costs,” Gyan Chand Daga, marketing director at Indian Oil, said by telephone from Mumbai today. “Demand for fuels is growing and we need to meet that gap.”

In terms of fuel pricing, the government partly compensates state refiners for selling fuels below cost without extending the benefit to private refiners, including Reliance and Essar Oil Ltd. Despite this, the private companies like Reliance are offering competitive rates to local companies and refiners. This fact raises a question about the validity of the storms raised in the recent past with respect to the Reliance gas disputes about pricing that RIL has been needlessly dragged into and embroiled in.

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