NEW DELHI: India’s import of crude oil from embattled Russia has surged to a record 1.62 million barrels per day in February, which is estimated to be higher than the combined import from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Russian government aims to plug the gap in its energy exports after it was hit badly by trade restrictions imposed by the European Union in December following its war on Ukraine.
According to a report of energy cargo tracker Vortexa, Russia continued to be the single largest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into petrol and diesel at refineries, for the fifth straight month by supplying more than one-third of the oil that India has imported.
“Russia’s market share of India’s import basket rose to 1.62 million barrels per day in February, taking a 35 per cent share from less than one per cent before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022,” it said.
India, being the world’s third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been snapping the Russian oil that was available at a discount rate after some nations in the West shunned it to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. “Russia now accounts for more than the combined oil bought from Iraq and Saudi Arabia — India’s mainstay oil suppliers for decades,” Vortexa said.
As per the energy tracker, the rise in Russian imports has been at the expense of Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The oil imports from Saudi Arabia fell 16 per cent month-on-month and that from the US declined 38 per cent. “Iraq, whom Russia has toppled to become the largest oil source for India, supplied 9,39,921 barrels per day (bpd) oil in February while Saudi Arabia supplied 6,47,813 bpd oil,” it said
