June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Reliance Industries Ltd., India's biggest company, is increasing crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia because of rising demand for fuels in India and the rest of Asia. The refiner is boosting purchases by at least 90,000 barrels a day, accounting for 30 percent of Saudi Arabia's output increase this month, P.M.S. Prasad, president of the Mumbai-based company's oil and gas business, said in a telephone interview. Reliance, which by this year will operate the world's largest refinery, stepped up imports at a time when Saudi Arabia has pledged to boost production. The Middle East nation's state oil company Saudi Aramco will raise output by about 300,000 barrels a day in June in response to demand from customers, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last month when U.S. President George W. Bush visited the kingdom. ``We have been discussing our needs,'' Prasad said yesterday. ``We have been assured of the additional barrels.'' Reliance operates a 660,000 barrel-a-day refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, and would start operations at a 580,000 barrel-a-day plant under unit Reliance Petroleum Ltd. later this year. The combined facility will be the world's biggest refinery, according to Reliance. Refiners in Japan and South Korea are poised to increase crude oil imports in the coming months after annual plant maintenance peaked this month. ``There's an abundant supply of heavy crude but the Saudis are more savvy than others in marketing their crude,'' said Harry Tchilinguirian, senior oil market analyst at BNP Paribas SA. ``There's also a seasonal element to this as refiners return from maintenance.'' Heavy Crudes Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, and the most influential member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumps a variety of light and heavy crudes. OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the world's oil, hasn't been able to rein in prices, which rose to a record $139.89 a barrel in New York yesterday. Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani earns more compared with overseas rivals by processing cheaper, dirtier crude with high- sulfur content. His plant is located two days away by ship from the Middle East. Reliance earned $15.50 from processing a barrel of oil into fuels in the quarter ended March 31, compared with $7 for a plant in Singapore, the company said April 21. China, the world's biggest energy user after the U.S., has increased crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia 17 percent this year to almost 10 million tons as new refineries start operations, according to customs data. To contact the reporter on this story: Nesa Subrahmaniyan in Singapore at nesas@bloomberg.net
Great that means that the increase in Saudi production has gone to straight to the increase in demand. Looks like prices won't be coming down any time soon.
I am surprised to hear Indian oil consumption is going up because gas is selling for more than $4.50/gal there. So who is buying all that gas in India I wonder?
the same people who are making them grow 6-10% a year, you cant have gdp growth without increasing oil demand, you CANT