New Delhi, Oct. 20: Reliance Industries' refinery margins will improve by at least $2 per barrel when it completes the petroleum coke gasification and refinery-off gas cracker projects. These projects are expected to enhance the recovery of petrochemicals from the refinery-off gases that are currently being used as fuel.

"We expect RIL's margins will improve by at least $2 per barrel on completion of these projects," Moody's Investors Service has said.

Last week, RIL reported its highest-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 6,720 crore for the September quarter. It earned $10.6 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the second quarter of this fiscal, the highest in the last seven years.

"Earnings improved despite a decline in the Singapore benchmark refining margin and a decline in the petrochemical product spread," Moody's said.

"Although RIL's refining margin improved marginally compared with $10.4 per barrel during the first quarter of this fiscal, it outperformed the Singapore refining benchmark that declined to $6.3 per barrel from $8.0 per barrel during the same period," it said.

Gasoline forms a major proportion of RIL's product portfolio, while that of fuel oil is negligible.

During the second quarter, fuel oil cracks fell significantly, while gasoline cracks remained stable over the first quarter, resulting in RIL's gross refining margin outperforming the benchmark refining margin by $4.3 per barrel.