India Sets New Record For Russian Oil Imports With A New High In May

In May, India recorded its highest oil import from Russia with 1.96 million barrels per day, a 15% increase from the previous peak in April, as per Vortexa's data.

Indian imports of Russian oil have now hit another high in May and have surpassed the total purchases from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, and the US combined, according to industry data.

For May, Russia accounted for 42% of India's crude oil imports, the largest share by any country in recent years. Saudi Arabia shipments fell to 560k tonnes, the lowest since Feb 2021, as per shipping analytics data.

Notably, India's oil imports in May had Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s lowest ever share at 39%.

India used to import up to 90% of its crude oil from the OPEC, primarily from the Middle East and Africa. However, the availability of discounted Russian oil after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2014 has led to a decline in India's reliance on OPEC.

Russia has thus remained India's top oil supplier for 8 months, accounting for 42% of all imported crude oil, which is made into fuel through refining.

Russia's imports surpass the last decade's major suppliers, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the US, exhibiting a significant shift in India's purchasing trend.

In May, Iraq provided 0.83 million bpd of oil, UAE shipped 203,000 bpd, and 138,000 bpd came from the US, according to the data.

Russia's import share in India, which was below 1% before the conflict with Ukraine in Feb 2022, surged to 1.96 million barrels per day in May, comprising 42% of India's imports. In May, OPEC's contribution to India's 4.7 million bpd oil import reduced to 1.8 million bpd from 2.1 million bpd in April, says Vortexa.

Previously, Indian refiners avoided purchasing Russian oil due to expensive shipping costs. However, they are now purchasing discounted Russian oil due to an influx of available supply, as some Western nations refused to purchase due to Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

In April, the average cost of Russian crude arriving in India, including freight charges, was the cheapest since the Ukraine conflict at USD 68.21 per barrel. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian and Iraqi crude landed on Indian shores at USD 86.96 and USD 77.77 per barrel, respectively.

Russia is selling record amounts of crude oil to India to plug the gap in its energy exports after the European Union banned imports in December.