Refinery throughput gained 3% to 5.44 million barrels per day (23 million tonnes) year-on-year for March. Throughput stood at 5.46 million bpd (20.85 million tonnes) in February.

Crude oil processed in tonnes, was the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009. Crude processed in million bpd terms, taking into account the fewer days in February, was also the highest since Reuters records going back to 2009.

In March, India's fuel consumption hit a record high.

"In March, we generally see seasonal high demand. Fuel demand is rising with heightened industrial activity and also as it is harvesting season," said Prashant Vasisht, vice president and co-head, corporate ratings at ICRA.

"Demand might slow when monsoons hit India, but overall we still project increased fuel demand for the year as the Indian economy is expected to record good growth."

Natural gas output was up 2.4% to 2.96 billion cubic metres year on year, while crude oil production fell 2.9% to 2.45 million tonnes, the data showed.

Preliminary sales data showed Indian state refiners posted an 8.4% rise in sales of gasoil to 3.45 million tonnes in the first half of April compared with the same period last month, indicating higher demand from the agriculture sector and a recovery in industrial activity.

India has been stocking up on discounted Russian crude oil. Western nations have imposed a $60 a barrel price cap for anyone buying Russian oil as part of sanctions against Moscow. However, India and China have paid prices above the cap, according to traders and Reuters calculations.

Following are details of refinery throughput and crude oil output:

REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in '000 tonnes):

March-2023 March-2023 March-2022 April 2022-March April 2021-March

2023 2022

Plan Actual Actual Actual Actual

IOC, Guwahati 15 97 93 1,080 730

IOC, Barauni 588 580 596 6,785 5,620

IOC, Gujarat 1,278 1,346 1,338 15,567 13,474

IOC, Haldia 729 743 747 8,506 7,305

IOC, Mathura 790 898 884 9,573 9,123

IOC, Digboi 58 59 61 713 708

IOC, Panipat 1,341 1,298 1,285 13,810 14,849

IOC, Bongaigaon 234 258 248 2,775 2,639

IOC, Paradip 1,360 1,418 1,383 13,598 13,217

BPCL, Mumbai 1,260 1,358 1,269 14,546 14,437

BPCL, Kochi 1,380 1,542 1,522 16,017 15,402

BORL, Bina 695 736 704 7,842 7,410

HPCL, Mumbai 771 874 711 9,804 5,558

HPCL, Visakh 975 874 825 9,287 8,410

CPCL, Manali 930 1,034 1,062 11,316 9,040

NRL, Numaligarh 160 205 188 3,091 2,624

MRPL, Mangalore 1,475 1,502 1,504 17,116 14,871

ONGC, Tatipaka 4 5 6 73 75

HMEL, Bhatinda 970 1,110 1,092 12,735 13,027

RIL, Jamnagar 3,056 2,822 3,056 34,433 34,757

RIL, SEZ 2,074 2,538 2,073 27,872 28,264

Nayara, Vadinar 1,690 1,707 1,690 18,692 20,164

TOTAL 21,833 23,004 22,337 2,55,233 2,41,703

Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

IOC: Indian Oil Corp

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd

CPCL: Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd

MRPL: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd

Reliance Industries Ltd

Please note that CPCL's CBR refinery is de-commissioned under shutdown due to limitation in meeting required product specifications with the existing configuration.

CRUDE OUTPUT ('000 tonnes):

March-2023 March-2023 March-2022

Plan Actual Actual

ONGC

Andhra Pradesh 17 17 15

Assam ^ 102 89 86

Gujarat 427 381 385

Tamil Nadu 21 18 23

Offshore # 1,247 1,151 1,173

OIL

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh & 308 276 257

Rajasthan (heavy oil)

Private Operators 784 522 587

Total 2,907 2,454 2,526

Total may not tally because some numbers have been rounded.

ONGC: Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd

OIL: Oil India Ltd

^Includes oil output of Tripura

#Includes oil output from Mumbai High

(Reporting by Ananya Bajpai and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)

By Ashitha Shivaprasad and Ananya Bajpai