Russia’s exports of crude oil to India soared to a new high in December 2022. For several months running, Moscow has been India’s number-one oil supplier.
Earlier this month, Indian crude oil imports from Russia surpassed one million barrels per day, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa. In December alone, Russia provided 1.19 million barrels of crude oil to India.
A report by Vortexa found that it was higher than the 909,403 bpd of crude oil that India imported from Russia in November and the 935,556 bpd in October 2022.
India’s purchase of 942,694 bpd of crude oil from Russia in June 2022 set a new high for this country.
About 25 per cent of India’s total oil imports come from Russia. When the EU and the US set a price restriction on Russian seaborne oil, the export of crude oil to India reached its pinnacle. It imports 85 per cent of its crude oil needs. At refineries, crude oil is transformed into fuels like gasoline and diesel.
According to Vortexa, India purchased 718,357 bpd from Saudi Arabia and 803,228 bpd from Iraq in December. In December 2022, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had previously been India’s fourth-largest supplier, passed the US. After producing 405,525 bpd in November 2022, the United States now only produces 322,015 bpd.
India’s demand for Russian oil has grown since it started selling at a discount as the West avoided it in punishment for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Middle Eastern crudes made up more than 60 per cent of the Indian crude basket. The remaining crudes came from North America, making up about 14 per cent, West Africa, making up about 12 per cent, and Latin America, making up about five per cent. Russian grades made up only about two per cent of the basket.
In December 2021, India bought barely 36,255 barrels per day of crude oil from Russia, as opposed to 1.05 million bpd from Iraq and 9,52,625 bpd from Saudi Arabia.
The Indian government has vehemently defended its trade with Russia, insisting that it is necessary for it to buy oil from the nation where it is most reasonably priced. The minister said that they do not insist that their companies buy Russian oil. They request that their consumers get oil from them using the best alternative. In the Rajya Sabha right now, everything depends on what the market has to give, he added.
Jaishankar said that please keep in mind that they don’t just buy oil from one nation. In the interests of the Indian people, they purchase oil from a variety of sources, but it is a reasonable policy to go where they can get the greatest bargain, and that is exactly what they are attempting to do, he stated.
In an effort to cut into Moscow’s oil profits and restrict its capacity to wage war in Ukraine while maintaining stable global oil prices and supplies, the executive body of the European Union has requested its 27 member nations to set a cap on the price of Russian oil at USD 60 per barrel.
Western shipping and insurance firms are not permitted to handle Russian oil sold beyond the price cap after 5 December 2022.
