Saudi Arabia was second largest supplier of crude oil to India in August

15 Sep 2022 , 01:55 PM

After a three-month lull, Saudi Arabia has supplanted Russia as India’s second-largest oil importer, even as New Delhi’s proportion of OPEC oil fell to a 16-year low of 59.8% as it reduced imports from Africa.

According to statistics from industry and trade sources cited by Reuters, India, the third-largest importer and consumer of crude oil, imported 863,950 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Saudi Arabia, up 4.8% from the previous month, while purchases from Russia declined 2.4% to 855,950 bpd.

August’s top oil supplier to India was still Iraq.

India had overtaken China as Russia’s top oil client as the West reduced its purchases in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. India and China are eager to obtain raw commodities at lower prices than those offered by other nations.

However, after reaching a record in June, India’s monthly oil imports from Russia have been falling as Moscow reduced the discounts granted for its oil.

Due to maintenance at several refineries, India’s total crude imports fell to a five-month low in August of 4.45 million bpd, down 4.1% from July, according to the statistics.

India’s purchases from Africa and other nations have been affected by the rise in Caspian Sea oil consumption, which comes primarily from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

According to the report, Latin America’s oil share decreased to 5.3% from around 7.7% in August, while African oil’s proportion decreased by half to 4.2%.

According to the data, over the first five months of the current fiscal year, from April to August, India’s total imports of oil increased by nearly 16% to 757,000 bpd from 20,000 bpd or a 0.5% share.

The data showed that this increased the share of CIS countries in India’s April—August oil imports to roughly 20% from 2.9%.

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