Russian oil accounted for about 27% of the crude oil imported by India last month
New Delhi:
India’s Russian oil imports climbed to a record 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up 9.2% from December, Moscow still the top monthly oil seller in New Delhi, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia, trade sources Data from is shown.
Last month Russian oil accounted for about 27% of the 5 million bpd of crude imported by India, the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer, the data showed.
India’s oil imports typically rise in December and January as state refiners avoid maintenance shutdowns in the first quarter to meet their annual production targets set by the government.
Refiners in India, which rarely buy Russian oil due to costly logistics, have emerged as Russia’s major oil customer after its invasion of Ukraine last February shut down subsidized crude by Western nations.
India’s imports of Russian Sokol crude last month hit an all-time high at 100,900 bpd, as production from the Sakhalin 1 field resumed under a new Russian operator, data showed.
In January, India’s oil imports from Canada rose to 314,000 bpd as Reliance Industries boosted long-distance crude purchases, data showed.
Canada emerged as India’s fifth largest supplier in January, after the United Arab Emirates, the data showed.
India’s Iraqi oil imports reached a seven-month high of 983,000 bpd in January, up 11% from December.
During April-January, the first ten months of this fiscal year, Iraq remained the largest oil supplier to India, while Russia became the second largest supplier replacing Saudi Arabia, which is now at the third position.
The data showed that higher purchases of Russian oil pulled down Indian imports from the Middle East to a record low of 48%, the lowest among Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member countries.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Road ahead for Adani Group
