Russia jumps to fourth position as oil supplier to India – tanker data

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Russia grew to become the fourth-largest oil provider to India in April, with volumes set to rise additional in coming months as low costs spur demand from the world’s No. 3 oil client and importer, tanker monitoring knowledge confirmed.

Russia’s share in India’s oil purchases rose to a file 6%, about 277,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, up from about 66,000 bpd in March, when it was in tenth place, in accordance with the info, which was equipped by commerce sources.

Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s prime refiner, purchased its first-ever Russian Arco oil cargo final month.

Western sanctions towards Russia for its invasion of Ukraine has opened a uncommon arbitrage move, prompting Indian refiners to extend shopping for of cheaper Russian oil shunned by many Western international locations and corporations.

“Costs of Russian Urals crude fell sharply as a result of sanctions towards Russia whereas Kazakhstan’s CPC mix crude got here beneath stress as it’s loaded from a Russian port,” stated Ehsan Ul Haq, analyst with Refinitiv.

Indians had purchased stranded Russian oil whereas some European patrons had purchased larger volumes of African and U.S. oil, he stated.

The share of African oil in India’s total oil imports declined to about 6% in April from 14.5% in March, whereas that of U.S. nearly halved to three%.

Grades from Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan collectively accounted for about 11% of India’s imported oil in April, in contrast with about 3% in March. The share of Center Japanese oil rose to 71% from 68%.

Share of varied areas in India’s month-to-month oil imports https://graphics.reuters.com/INDIA-OIL/zgpomewxapd/Pastedpercent20imagepercent201652765535689.png

India’s oil imports from Russia are set to rise additional to about 487,500 in Might, since refiners have ramped up purchases from Russia, preliminary knowledge from Refinitiv flows present.

Final month, Iraq continued to the highest oil provider to India, adopted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In April, Indian refiners shipped in 4.7 million bpd of oil, up 6.9% from the earlier month and about 11.6% larger than a yr earlier, when a second COVID-19 wave hit native oil demand.

India’s oil imports in April have been excessive as refiners raised runs to satisfy native demand and achieve from strong refining margins, Haq stated.

“Additionally the businesses acquired Russian grades at very tempting charges they usually needed to elevate dedicated volumes beneath time period contract with Center Japanese producers,” Haq stated.

The upper imports from Russia dragged down OPEC’s share of international provides to India in April.

OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports drop to file low https://graphics.reuters.com/INDIA-OIL/dwvkrngbbpm/Pastedpercent20imagepercent201652766656272.png

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Modifying by Florence Tan and Bradley Perrett)