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 Indian refiners processed 6% more crude oil in May, provisional government data made public on Monday showed, seeing their biggest month-on-month increase since December 2022.

Refinery throughput in May rose to 5.37 million barrels per day (22.7 million tonnes), an uptick of 0.4% compared with May last year.

In April, throughput fell 3.8% year-on-year, hitting a five-month low in barrel-per-day terms due to ongoing maintenance.

India's crude oil imports in May rose 2% from a year earlier on sustained buying of discounted Russian fuel to cater to strong demand in the country.

Russian crude oil imports by India in May hit an all-time high of between 62.8 million and 66.7 million barrels as buyers took advantage of discounted supplies, reducing demand for oil from the Middle East and Africa.

India's fuel consumption also surged in May with diesel sales scaling a record high, buoyed by strong factory activity in the third-largest oil consumer in the world.

Natural gas output edged down 0.1% year on year to 2.91 billion cubic metres while crude oil production fell 1.9% to 2.5 million tonnes, the data showed.