India’s oil imports from the Middle East dropped to a 19-month low in September, while Russian imports surged, despite refining outages reducing overall crude imports, according to trade and shipping data.
According to the reports, Iraq remained the biggest supplier, while Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the second largest after a month gap.
India’s total oil imports in September slumped to a 14-month low of 3.91 million barrels per day (bpd), down 5.6% from the previous year, due to maintenance at refineries such as Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corp.
According to the data, India’s imports from the Middle East fell 16.2% to about 2.2 million bpd in August, while imports from Russia increased 4.6% to about 896,000 bpd after falling in the previous two months.
Russia’s share of India’s oil imports ramped up to an all-time high of 23% from 19% the previous month, while the Middle East’s share tumbled to 56.4% from 59%.
Oil from the Caspian Sea, mainly imported from countries like Kazakhstan, Russia, and Azerbaijan has increased from 24.6% to 28%.
Amid sanctions by USA and EU, Russia has been offerinv its oil at a discounted price. India, a major oil buyer, has been taking advantage of cheaper Russian oil. After China, India has emerged as Russia’s second-largest oil buyer, taking the edge of discounted prices as some Western entities mitigate purchases due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
Imports from Saudi Arabia slipped to a three-month low of about 758,000 bpd, down 12.3% from August, while imports from Iraq fell to a year low of 948,400 bpd. Imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fell to a 16-month low of approximately 262,000 bpd.
Ever since the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, the US and European Union has imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and has even tried to persuade India not to buy oil from Russia, not even at discounted rates. However, India stood its ground by upholding its trade ties with Russia. India also has time and again urged both Ukraine and Russia to resolve issues through dialogue and diplomacy.
