Crude import bill may soar to USD 110-120 billion in FY '09

By Ammar Zaidi

Madrid, July 3 (PTI) India's crude import bill may jump
by up to 76 percent to USD 110-120 billion this year based on
current global prices, Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan
said on Thursday.
"It will go up (even more) if the prices rise further,"
he told reporters on the sidelines of the 19th World Petroleum
Congress as crude prices rose to a record USD 144 a barrel on
Thursday.
In 2007-08, the import bill was USD 67.988 billion and
the country had imported 121.672 million tons of crude. This
year, the import would be higher because Reliance Petroleum's
export oriented 29 MT refinery is set for commissioning in
August-September.
He said fuel consumption growth will be 5-6 percent, but
if the current pricing policies continue, wherein auto fuels
are cheaper than industrial fuel like naphtha, the demand may
go up because there is a tendency for power generators to
switch to diesel instead of fuel oil and naphtha for
electricity generation.
While industrial fuels are directly linked to market
rates, auto fuels like petrol and diesel and cooking medium
fuels like kerosene and LPG are subidised.
The government had increased petrol and diesel prices on
June 5, but oil marketing companies are still selling these
fuels below cost price.