‘OPEC share slid as India’s oil imports shrank 11.8%’

Country bought more U.S. crude: trade

May 03, 2021 10:50 pm | Updated 10:50 pm IST - New Delhi

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on a flag at the oil producer group's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on a flag at the oil producer group's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year to the end of March as overall purchases by Asia’s third-largest economy fell to a six-year low, data obtained from industry and trade sources showed.

Total crude imports by the world’s third-biggest oil importer fell to 3.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in FY21, down 11.8% from a year earlier, data showed.

India bought more U.S. and Canadian oil at the expense of that from Africa and West Asia, reducing purchases from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to about 2.86 million bpd and squeezing the group’s share of imports to 72% from about 80% previously. That is the lowest share since at least FY02, before which crude import data is not available.

U.S. and Canadian oil accounted for about 7% and 1.3% respectively of India’s imports compared to 4.5% and 0.60% a year earlier.

The U.S. emerged as the fifth-biggest supplier, up two places from FY20.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.