India eases Russian oil buying in July, boosts Saudi imports

Indian refiners lifted more term supplies from Saudi Arabia as prices were attractive while prices for Russian supplies have climbed on robust demand

August 17, 2022 08:38 pm | Updated 10:06 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Overall India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 3.2% less oil in July at 4.63 million bpd from June as some refineries planned maintenance turnaround from August, the data showed.

Overall India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 3.2% less oil in July at 4.63 million bpd from June as some refineries planned maintenance turnaround from August, the data showed. | Photo Credit: Reuters

India's crude oil imports from Russia in July fell for the first time since March along with its overall purchase while supplies from Saudi Arabia rebounded for the first in five months, data obtained from trade and industry sources showed.

Indian refiners lifted more term supplies from Saudi Arabia as prices were attractive while prices for Russian supplies have climbed on robust demand.

India shipped in 8,77,400 barrels per day (bpd) oil from Russia in July, a decline of about 7.3% from June, with Moscow continuing as its second biggest oil supplier after Iraq.

Discounted Russian oil

Refiners in India are snapping up discounted Russian oil after some Western countries and companies shunned purchases from Moscow over its late-February invasion of Ukraine.

Overall India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 3.2% less oil in July at 4.63 million bpd from June as some refineries planned maintenance turnaround from August, the data showed.

India's oil imports from Saudi Arabia rose by 25.6% to 8,24,700 bpd in July, the highest in three months, the data showed, after the producer lowered official selling price (OSPs) in June and July compared with May. Saudi Arabia stayed at No. 3 spot among India's suppliers.

"Most refiners have term contracts with Saudi Arabia so they can adjust slightly but they can not cut drastically ... They might have used lower OSPs for June and July to meet their commitments under the term contract," said Ehsan Ul Haq, an analyst with Refinitiv.

Share of Middle East oil

The share of Middle East oil in India's overall imports declined marginally in July as the nation cut purchases from Iraq by 9.3% from June to below 1 million bpd mark for the first time in 10 months, the data showed.

India has raised imports of Russia's diesel-rich ESPO grade and that could further dent purchase of similar grades from west Africa, said Haq, adding ESPO is cheaper than Brent-linked Atlantic basin crude as it is sold at a discount to Dubai oil.

Share of OPEC countries in India's overall imports declined marginally in July from June, and plunged to the lowest in April-July, the first four months of this fiscal year, the data showed.

Top News Today

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.