India lowers buying Russian crude by 4% in Oct, steps up Saudi imports

Russian oil constituted almost 34 percent of total crude oil imports by India in the month.

India’s crude oil imports from Russia declined over 4 percent in October compared to the previous month, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa.

The decline in imports from Moscow comes amid narrowing discounts on Russian oil and payment issues faced by refiners as cost of oil surpasses the price cap.

In October, India imported 1.55 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Russia, as against 1.62 million bpd in the previous month. Russian oil constituted almost 34 percent of total crude oil imports by India during the month.

However, Russia retained the position of top supplier of crude oil to India in the month. This also marks a year of Russia being the top crude oil supplier to India.

Russia has become a major source of crude oil for India ever since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, and has overtaken Saudi Arabia and Iraq to become the biggest supplier of the commodity by October 2022.

Russia has been diverting its oil to Asian countries, especially India and China, at discounted rates ever since the European Union (EU) and the US imposed a slew of sanctions on Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine. However, discounts from Russia have come down in the recent months, which have, in turn, resulted in the cost of oil going above the price cap of $60 per barrel.

India majorly gets discount on Russian Urals, the sour grade of crude, which constitutes the majority of imports from the country. In October, India imported 1.39 million bpd of Russian Urals, compared to 1.16 million bpd in the previous month.

While cutting down on imports from Russia, India has stepped up imports from Saudi Arabia with October recording a shipment of 924,000 barrels a day from 523,000 bpd a month back.

Meanwhile, Iraq supplied 786,000 bpd to India in October, compared to 946,000 bpd last month. India’s total imports of crude oil stood at 4.56 million bpd in October from places like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the US and Africa.