India’s Reliance Industries stepping up supplies to dieselstarved Europe

The global energy crunch spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is giving the world’s biggest refining complex a muchneeded boost.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani controlled, Reliance Industries Ltd, which operates the world’s largest refining complex, has deferred its planned maintenance shutdown to take advantages of the surging demand for diesel, said people with the direct knowledge of the matter.

Reliance’s planned maintenanceshutdown now has been delayed to September, traders in India are maintaining while adding that the shutdown has been deferred to take advantage of robust cracks for the refined fuels.

The complex in India’s western state of Gujarat state can process around 1.4 million barrels of crude a day from two refineries and is able to export most of the fuel.

According to a report, the Indian major’s 704,000 barrels a day export-focused plant been languishing since the pandemic hit, and only utilized around three-quarters of its capacity in January.

Shortage in Europe

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left European leaders think hard about energy security - particularly their decades-old reliance on Moscow for natural gas.

According to industry experts, as renewables like solar and wind are slowly built up and coal and other fossil fuels are phased out, Europe still needs natural gas, and it’s dependent on Russia to get it.

Despite recent mild weather, stocks heading into spring are well below normal levels and Europe will have to attract significant imports and curb consumption through the summer to rebuild them ahead of the next onset of winter.