India, the world's second-largest exporter of seaborne diesel this year, has no plans to follow the US if Washington imposes a ban on overseas fuel sales to ease a price spike at the pump, Bloomberg reported Thursday. "We honor our commitments," Oil Minister Hardeep Puri said.
India has overtaken Russia as the top diesel supplier so far this year, accounting for about 10% of global shipments, Bloomberg said, citing Kpler data. Diesel prices outside the US surged relative to American futures on Thursday as the prospect of US export restrictions rattled markets. The EU has expressed concern that potential curbs could further tighten already-constrained supplies.
Puri cited Indian Oil Corp.'s recent five-year agreement to supply fuel products to Mauritius, saying that reneging on such commitments would undermine buyers' trust in Indian suppliers. India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, has about 5.4 million barrels per day of refining capacity and imports roughly 90% of the crude it processes.
India exports more than 1 million bpd of fuels and will continue investing in refining even as plants shut in parts of Europe, Puri said. He said the country aims to raise refining capacity to 6.2-6.4 million bpd from about 5.4 million bpd by building new plants and upgrading existing units.
Reuters reported that Puri also said Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company are discussing investments in Indian refining projects but seek access to India's growing downstream market, as a new refinery costs about 780 billion to 800 billion rupees ($8.13-$8.34 billion).