New Delhi: An acute shortage of diesel worldwide aided Indian refiners to export as much as 2.90 million tonnes of the transport and industrial fuel during October 2026, the highest level in the last one year, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. Diesel shipments from India hit about 700,000 barrels per day (b/d) in October, compared with 620,000 b/d in September, according to data from commodity analytics firm Kpler, and the October exports were the highest since September 2025.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine (Kpler data)
Preliminary vessel-tracking figures for October 1–29, reported by The Indian Express from the same Kpler data, put the average slightly higher at 0.71 million b/d — a rise of 19.6% over September and 8.1% over the same period last year, described as a 13-month high. Reliance Industries accounted for the bulk of the shipments, exporting around 0.55 million b/d, or nearly 78% of India's total, with its exports up 12% on the month and 32.5% on the year, the report said. Reliance runs the Jamnagar refining complex in Gujarat, the world's largest single-site refining hub.
Source: The Indian Express (Kpler data) via Tech Word News
Public-sector refiners also stepped up shipments to benefit from stronger international refining margins. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) raised its diesel exports to around 38,000 b/d in October from about 1,000 b/d in September, Indian Oil Corporation's exports jumped 464% month-on-month to nearly 53,000 b/d, and Hindustan Petroleum's rose 16.3% to about 26,000 b/d, according to the Kpler-based reporting.
Source: TradingView News (Kpler data)
Kpler data cited in recent reporting places India as the world's second-largest exporter of seaborne diesel this year, behind only the United States — a position built on very large, complex refineries that kept running at above 100% utilisation in October.
The shortage behind the surge is global: the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said continued disruptions to Middle East exports, compounded by lower supply from Russia and some Asian countries, cut global diesel and gasoil availability by 1.5 million b/d in the second quarter of 2026 and 1.7 million b/d in the third, compared with a year earlier, BusinessLine reported. Kpler's lead research analyst for refining and modelling, Sumit Ritolia, said high utilisation and limited maintenance allowed Indian refiners to maximise throughput, that refinery runs should hold around 5.6–5.7 million b/d, and that he sees October exports as this year's high — with shipments expected to stay strong, though robust domestic demand will limit the upside.