India looks at Africa Market for Finished Petro Products.

New Delhi: India is pinning its hopes on the above-world-average economic growth in Africa to carve out a market for finished petroleum products as it moves towards 70 million tonne of surplus in three years. India has the fifth largest refining capacity in the world. Although India imports 80% of its crude oil requirement, it has a surplus of finished petroleum products like petrol, diesel and jet fuel. Last fiscal, the country exported 50 million tonne of refined petroleum products.

“With Africa's economic development picking up momentum and its energy demands rising, India is keen on becoming a dependable supplier of petroleum products to Africa,” said oil minister S Jaipal Reddy at the third India-Africa hydrocarbons conference here. As per an IMF forecast, sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP will grow by 5.3% this year and 5.8% in 2012, while world economic growth is expected to be around 4%.

Officials said that the main fuel exporters from India are Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, but state-owned refiners are making rapid progress. Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), an ONGC subsidiary, is now exporting about 1.1 million tonne of fuel to Mauritius. The three year contract is set to expire next year. The whole of Africa may currently offer a market of about 5 million tonne a year but the market is growing fast, they said. The whole of Africa, which requires only Euro 2 emission norms as against Euro 4 and 5 norms in the developed world, offers a cost advantage to Indian refiners.

Source : financialexpress.com