India's import of Russian crude oil hits record high in May, leaving behind supplies from Saudi, Iraq

India’s import of Russian oil hit a new record in May and is now more than the quantity of oil bought from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE and the US combined.

According to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa, India imported as much as 1.96 million barrels of oil per day from Russia in May which is 15 per cent higher than in April.

Russia has now occupied a larger chunk of India’s oil imports, taking the figure to 45 per cent in May. This is the highest share for an individual country in recent years.

The rise in Russian shares came at the cost of traditional suppliers in Western Asia. Shipments from Saudi Arabia slipped to 560,000 tonnes – the lowest since February 2021, according to figures from the shipping analytics company.

Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) share in India’s oil imports fell to an all-time low to just 39 per cent in May.

OPEC has been contributing as much as 90 per cent of India’s oil needs. However, since February, Russia began offering oil at a much-discounted rate owing to its invasion of Ukraine which in turn caused a loss of business for OPEC.

For the eighth straight month, Russia continued to be the single largest supplier of crude oil, making up for 42 per cent of all oil India imported.

In addition to this, the data also shows that in May, Iraq supplied 0.83 million barrels per day (bpd) oil in May, while UAE shipped 203,000 bpd. As much as 138,000 bpd was sourced from the US.

“India’s imports of Russian crude continue to test new highs, reaching almost 2 million bpd in May. Refiners have tested and gained confidence in processing Russian crude, and their voracious appetite for Russian crude is likely to grow as much as they have room to back off spot crude purchases,” said Vortexa’s head of Asia-Pacific analysis, Serena Huang.

The average cost of Russian crude including freight costs landing on Indian shores in April was USD 68.21 a barrel – the lowest level since the Ukraine war. The average cost of Saudi Arabian crude sent to India in April was USD 86.96 a barrel, while Iraqi oil was priced at USD 77.77 a barrel.

With inputs from PTI

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