RIL oil-to-chemicals Q4 results: Revenue increases by 15.4%, but EBITDA slips on weaker fuel cracks

The oil-to-chemicals segment of RIL includes refining, petrochemicals, fuel retailing, aviation fuel and bulk wholesale marketing.

Reliance Industries Ltd’s oil-to-chemicals business posted a 15.4 percent rise in the fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to Rs 1.64 lakh crore, driven by higher volumes and higher domestic sales.

The segment’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) declined by 10 percent from a year earlier to Rs 15,080 crore due to a sharp fall in transportation fuel cracks and lower polyester chain margins, which was partially offset by higher volume and feedstock cost optimisation.

“The oil-to-chemicals business posted a resilient performance despite considerable volatility in energy markets. Significant demand-supply imbalances in downstream chemicals markets have led to multi-year low margins. Our business teams ensured optimisation of integrated operations and feedstock costs to enhance margin capture across value chains,” said Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani.

In the quarter, transportation fuels cracks declined from elevated levels last year due to a slowdown in demand growth amid high inventory levels, the company said.

In a post-earnings presentation, Chief Financial Officer Srikanth Venkatachari said: “While (transportation) fuel (cracks) was down between 27 percent and 55 percent, we did see some offsets in the form of polypropylene higher by 4 percent, PVC helped at about 13 percent. The whole focus was also on processing the right value of crudes.”

RIL’s crude throughput came in at 20.3 million tonnes (mt) in the quarter, higher than 19.8 mt achieved in the same period last year.

For FY25, the segment’s revenue grew by 11 percent from a year earlier to Rs 6.27 lakh crore, primarily on account of higher volume and increased domestic sales. Meanwhile, O2C EBITDA for FY25 was lower at Rs 54,988 crore, compared to Rs 62,389 crore, due to weakness in transportation fuel cracks and subdued downstream chemical deltas.

RIL’s oil-to-chemicals segment includes refining, petrochemicals, fuel retailing, aviation fuel and bulk wholesale marketing. Its portfolio includes transportation fuels, polymers, polyesters, and elastomers.

Oil and Gas business

The oil and gas segment of the company reported a 0.4 percent fall in revenue from last year to Rs 6,440 crore on account of lower gas production and lower oil offtake from KGD6, partly offset by higher gas price realisation from the KGD6 field and higher CBM production.

The segment’s EBITDA declined by 8.6 percent to Rs 5,123 crore due to one-time maintenance activity and a natural decline in KGD6 volumes.

The average KGD6 production for the quarter was 26.73 MMSCMD of gas and approximately 19,600 barrels per day (bpd) of oil/ condensate. Meanwhile, the average pricerealisedd for KGD6 gas was $10.09/MMBTU in Q4, compared to $9.53/MMBTU in the same period last year.

In the quarter, production from KGD6 declined as RIL conducted planned maintenance activities, said Sanjay Roy, executive vice-president for exploration and production.

For FY25, oil and gas revenue was higher by 3.2 percent from the previosu year amid higher volumes of KGD6 and CBM, but partly offset by lower gas and condensate price realisations. Meanwhile, EBITDA increased by 4.9 percent YoY to Rs 21,188 crore in the year.

“The Oil & Gas business recorded its highest ever annual EBITDA led by higher production from our KGD6 and CBM blocks,” Ambani said.

The average price realised for KGD6 gas was $9.65/MMBTU in FY25, compared to $10.1/MMBTU in FY24. The average price realised for CBM gas was $10.95/MMBTU in FY25, as against $14.43/MMBTU in FY24.

The oil and gas segment includes exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas.

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