Russia becomes India's second-biggest oil exporter

NEW DELHI: Russia has become India’s second-biggest oil supplier in May, pushing Suadi Arabia to the third position in May, data from trade sources showed.

According to details, India received about 819,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Russia. Which is the higher thus far, compared to 277,00 in April, the data showed.

Many importers shun trade with western sanctions-hit Russia after its invasion of Ukraine which resulted in a drastic drop in Russian crude.

The price drop enabled Indian refineries to use Russian crude oil due to the high freight cost, an opportunity to snap up low-priced crude.

The data shows that the amount of Russian crude oil used in May was 16.5% and helped raise the share of oil from C.I.S countries to about 20.5%, decreasing the percentage of oil import from the middle east to 59.5%.

The use of African oil in India also surged from 5.9% to 11.5% in April.

Also Read: What’s Russia’s endgame in Ukraine

Ehsan Ul Haq, an analyst with Refinitiv said, “Diesel is calling the tune … if you want to boost production of diesel and jet fuel then you need Nigerian and Angolan grades. China has cut imports of Angolan grades because of Covid-related shutdowns so some of these barrels are going to Europe and some to India.”

Apart from the availability of cheaper Russian barrels, higher official selling prices of Middle Eastern oil also pushed Indian refiners to buy Nigerian crude, he said.