Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India’s crude oil imports from Russia rose to 1.97 million barrels per day (mbpd) during June the highest since July 2023, largely due to lower cargoes to China.
Public refiners such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) imported 1.10 mbpd crude oil, which is also a 12-month high.
The cargoes last month were higher by 6 per cent M-o-M. However, imports were down by almost 11 per cent on an annual basis. During May-July 2023, public refiners imported more than 1.2 mbpd on a monthly basis from Russia.
Private refiners Reliance Industries (RIL) and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy imported a record 871,200 barrels per day (bpd) from Russia in June 2024. The cargoes were higher by 28 per cent M-o-M and 20 per cent Y-o-Y.
Vortexa’s head of APAC analysis Serena Huang toldBusinessline, “India’s imports of Russian crude at 1.97 mbpd in June 2024 is the highest since last July. China’s lower appetite of Russian crude has led to more barrels heading to India.”
India’s crude imports have remained robust at 4.62 mbpd in June, Huang said. “We expect the country’s crude imports to remain robust, with downside risks from softer refining margins due to slowing global oil demand,” she added.
