West Asia crisis: Indian Oil increased LPG production by 30 per cent

Amid the West Asia crisis that threatened global energy supplies stateowned Indian Oil Corporation IOC on Monday said it boosted its liquefied petroleum gas LPG production by nearly 30 per cent during this time according to news agency PTIDespite a significant shift away from Middle Eastern crude grades our refineries operated above 100 per cent utilisation LPG production was ramped up by nearly 30 per cent within a short period and our gas business maintained supplies to priority sectors while securing additional LNG from diversified geographies IOC chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said at the companys 67th annual general meetingIn the first quarter of the current financial year IOC processed a record 1917 million tonnes of crude at 1094 per cent capacity utilisation while pipeline throughput reached a quarterly record of 2855 million tonnes as per PTIThe companys domestic petroleumproduct market share rose to 431 per cent Sahney saidWhile profitability during the quarter remained under pressure from higher crude costs arising from the West Asia conflict the strength of our operating performance gives us confidence in the underlying resilience of your company he saidIndia is the worldrsquos thirdlargest oil consumer and imports more than 88 per cent of its crude oil requirement Around 45 per cent of its crude imports and nearly 90 per cent of LPG imports are linked to the Strait of Hormuz a key waterway that is affected due to the conflict between US and IranAgility diversification and preparednessAs the conflict disrupted the global crude oil supply Sahney said the company diversified crude sourcing realigned refinery operations and secured alternative suppliesFor Indian Oil the priority during this unprecedented crisis has remained crystal clear to maintain continuity of energy supplies despite constrained sourcing options and volatile international markets he saidWith close monitoring and guidance from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas our teams have responded with agility diversifying crude sourcing realigning refinery operations and strengthening supplychain coordination to secure alternate supplies optimise cargo movements and rebalance products across regions he addedThe IOC Chairman further said the company used 24hour control rooms daily reviews and realtime market monitoring to respond to supply gaps adding that the company had maintained product availability despite a significant shift away from Middle Eastern crude gradesSahney said the experience of the West Asia crisis had reinforced the need to be better prepared to face possible disruptionsResilience has to be built before it is tested he said In an uncertain world energy security depends not only on scale but equally on agility diversification and preparedness he addedIOC plans to evolve into a more diversified and integrated energy company while prioritising national energy security he saidIn moments of national need the countrys energy security comes first he saidExpansion plansThe staterun oil marketing company is ramping up investment in its core refining operations The IOCrsquos group refining capacity is expected to increase to around 98 million tonnes from 8075 million tonnes a year at present once it completes its expansion projects at Panipat Gujarat and BarauniWith India expanding its refining capacity toward 300 million tonnes a year IOC expects to account for more than 40 per cent of the incremental capacity Sahney saidBesides the company is looking to reduce its dependence on its traditional refining business targeting higher contributions from petrochemicals natural gas renewables biofuels green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuelBy 2030 it plans to raise its petrochemical intensity to about 15 per cent and increase naturalgas sales 15 times Additionally it aims to raise upstream integration to more than 10 per cent by 2031 as per PTIWith inputs from PTI