India’s oil imports from Russia drop 19% in February
Russia continued to remain the largest supplier of crude oil to India in February with $3.61 billion worth of supplies, although with a 19% drop from the previous month.
In January, India imported crude oil worth $4.47 billion from Russia.
The month-on-month decline in imports from Russia comes amid lower discounts offered by Russia. Russia has been the largest source of crude for India since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked western sanctions, prompting it offer deep discounts.
India and China have been the biggest beneficiaries of the discounts, which stood at over $30 per barrel in 2022 but have shrunk over the past year to less than $5 per barrel.
Data from the ministry of commerce and industry showed that oil supplies from Saudi Arabia jumped 67.5% to $2.6 billion taking it to the second position in the list of oil suppliers to India, from $1.55 billion in January.
For most part of the past two years, Iraq has been the second largest supplier to India. It has now slid to the third position with $2.24 billion worth of supplies in February, 11.6% down from $2.54 billion in January.
India’s oil import bill in February 2024 stood at $13.25 billion, about 10% higher from $12.04 billion in January.
The sequential rise came even as consumption of petroleum products declined marginally in February. Data from the petroleum planning and analysis cell (PPAC) showed petroleum product consumption in February stood at 19.75 million tonnes, 1.3% lower from 20.01 million tonnes in January. In March, however, it increased to 21.09 million tonnes.
The crude oil market has witnessed significant volatility in the past two months with escalating tensions in West Asia. Also, concerns of a delay in rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve and increase in oil inventory in the US have also kept prices lower.
Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd , however, said supply-side fears have eased as West Asia tensions continue to subside.