India Emerged as the World’s Largest Buyer of Russian Oil

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  India has surpassed China to become the topmost buyer of Russian crude oil.

The country imported 2.07 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in July this year. This is significantly higher by 12% when compared with the year-ago month and higher by 4.2% from the previous month. Incidentally, the share of Russian oil in the total monthly imports surged to hit historic levels of 44%.

The second largest oil supplier to India was Iraq, Followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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The lower profit margins from fuel production have resulted in lesser purchases by Chinese refiners. The Chinese Customs data suggests that the Chinese crude oil imports from Russia declined to 1.76 million bpd.

The Indian refiners have been focusing on imports of discounted oil from Russia, especially on imports of ESPO Blend crude, whose imports recorded significant surge to hit 188,000 bpd in July this year. India has been importing heavy volumes of crude since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While India’s crude oil imports from Russia have recorded significant surge, the imports from its traditional suppliers including Iraq and Saudi Arabia have witnessed notable decline. The imports from these two countries have hit their lowest level in the past two months.