India's Russian Oil Imports Surge to Two-Year High, Outpacing Middle East Suppliers Amid Iran-Israel Tensions

From June, India has started importing Russian oil. Saudi Arabia and Iraq are the major Middle Eastern suppliers. Due to Israel's attack on Iran, the market has become volatile.

2-2.2 million barrels of Russian oil were imported per day in June. They were more than the total volumes bought from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, preliminary data by global trade analytics firm Kpler showed. These imports were the highest in the last two years.

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In May, India's oil imports from Russia were 1.96 million barrels per day. Imports from the US rose to 439,000 bpd in June. It is a massive jump from 280,000 bpd purchased in the previous month.

According to Kpler, The Middle East import projections are around 2 million bpd in June, lower than May's buying.

"While supplies remain unaffected so far, vessel activity suggests a decline in crude loadings from the Middle East in the coming days," Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst, Refining & Modeling at Kpler, told PTI.

"Shipowners are hesitant to send empty tankers (ballasters) into the Gulf, with the number of such vessels dropping from 69 to just 40, and (Middle East and Gulf) MEG-bound signals from the Gulf of Oman halving."

He explained that the current MEG supplies are likely to tighten in the near term, potentially triggering future adjustments in India's sourcing strategy, he said.

Post the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India began importing large volumes of Russian oil . The country has traditionally been an importer of Middle Eastern oil. Since the oil was available at a significant discount to other international benchmarks due to Western sanctions and with some European countries shunning purchases, Russian imports saw a steady rise.

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This led to a dramatic rise in import of Russian oil, growing from less than 1 per cent of its total crude oil imports to a staggering 40-44 per cent in a short period.

India is the world's third-largest oil-importing and consuming nation. It brought about 5.1 million barrels of crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries.