India’s Crude Oil Imports from Russia Hit Fresh Peak

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): India’s oil imports from Russia continued to surge during the month of May this year. The country has been importing heavy volumes of cheaper crude from Russia for several months now.

The latest data released by energy cargo tracker Vortexa suggests that India imported 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Russia in May 2023, which is a new record. The imports stood higher than combined imports of 1.74 million bpd of the next four biggest suppliers- Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the U.S.

The imports from Russia accounted for 42% of the total import volume by the country. It must be noted that the country used to import negligible volumes of crude oil from Russia prior to the Ukraine crisis. India has turned from a small buyer to the most prominent buyer of Russian oil along with China during the one-year period following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The higher imports from Russia has drastically reduced the country’s share of imports from OPEC countries. Incidentally, the OPEC’s share of oil imports by the country has plunged to hit the lowest level in more than two decades.

Russia has surpassed Iraq to become the largest crude oil supplier to India during 2022/2023 fiscal year. It accounted for nearly 25% of India’s crude oil imports during the fiscal.