‘Russian-origin crude touching 5% of India’s total seaborne imports for the first time’
‘Russian-origin crude touching 5% of India’s total seaborne imports for the first time’
India’s crude oil imports hit a record high in April, surpassing 4.8 million barrels per day in April, with Russian-origin crude touching 5% of India’s total seaborne imports for the first time, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a report.
Trade data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry pegged petroleum imports in April at about $20.2 billion or 87.54% higher than the $10.7 billion of imports in April 2021
“A rebound in domestic demand as well as stronger oil product exports likely spurred India’s crude import volumes,” said Yen Ling Song, associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Refiners have been highly attracted to discounts for Russian-origin cargoes and India has been a major alternative destination for Urals crude that would typically have been sold to refiners in Europe.”
“As of May 9, almost 10 million barrels of crude loading from Russia — including 970,000 barrels of Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend — have discharged in India this month. Another 16 vessels with 13 million barrels are currently indicating India as their destination and are expected to arrive within the next four weeks,” the firm’s report said.
Oil shipments from West Asia and Russia displaced cargoes from further afield, and Russian-origin crudes hit 5% of India’s total seaborne imports in April for the first time, rising from under 1% throughout 2021 and the January to March quarter of this year, S&P Global Market Intelligence noted.
