Replacing Saudi! Russia jumped to India's second largest oil supplier in May

Despite pressure from European and American countries, India has been increasing its purchases of Russian crude oil recently. Russia jumped to become India's second-biggest oil supplier in May, pushing Saudi Arabia into third place, with Iraq remaining the top supplier, data provided by trade sources showed.

Indian refineries received around 819,000 bpd of Russian oil in May, the highest monthly level so far, and around 277,000 bpd in April, the data showed.

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the West has continued to increase sanctions against Russia, prompting many oil importers to avoid trading with Russia, resulting in a record discount for the spot price of Russian crude oil relative to other grades of crude oil. India took this opportunity to "picked up leaks" in a big way.

Indian refiners have rarely purchased Russian oil in the past due to high freight rates. Data show that in May this year, Russian oil accounted for about 16.5% of India's total oil imports, prompting India's oil imports from CIS countries to increase to about 20.5%, while oil imports from the Middle East fell to about 59.5%. %.

The proportion of crude oil produced in Africa is also increasing

The data also showed that African oil's share of India's crude imports surged to 11.5% last month from 5.9% in April.

Refinitiv analyst Ehsan Ul Haq noted that imports of Nigerian and Angola crude have helped boost diesel and jet fuel production, while an increase in the official selling price of Middle East crude has also prompted Indian refiners to switch to Nigerian crude.

As state-owned refiners ramp up production to meet growing domestic demand, private refiners shift their focus to benefiting from exports. India’s total oil imports in May stood at 4.98 million bpd, the highest level since December 2020. India's oil imports in May rose about 5.6% from the previous month and about 19% from a year earlier.

India defends buying 'cheap' Russian oil

For now, India still intends to purchase more Russian oil. India's state-owned refiners are working together to finalize and secure contracts that Russia can supply India with an additional six months of crude oil, the media reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter. The seller will handle the transportation and insurance of the oil, they said.

While India's purchases of Russian crude are not illegal and have not violated any sanctions, India has been under pressure from the Biden administration and the European Union to stop doing business with Russia in a bid to cut off the Kremlin's access to oil revenue and funding.

On Thursday (June 9), Amos Hochstein, the US State Department's top energy security adviser, issued the latest warning about India's aggressive purchases of Russian oil, calling on the country not to "go too far". He said he had urged India not to profit from discounted Russian crude at a time when Western consumers were paying record prices for fuel.

India has defended its purchases of "cheap" oil from Russia, saying its imports from Russia are insignificant compared to EU purchases and represent only a small fraction of India's total consumption, and a sudden halt to Russian oil imports will push up cost to consumers.

Article source: Financial Associated Press