India's Russian Oil Imports Hit Record High in July, West Asian Supplies Recover

NEW DELHI: India’s crude oil imports from Russia climbed to a record 2.8 million barrels per day (mbd) in July accounting for more than half of the country’s purchases, even as refiners stepped up sourcing from West Asian suppliers with oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz normalised, reports Atul Mathur. India’s LPG imports remained heavily skewed towards US, which supplied over 9 lakh tonne, or about 73%, of the over 1.2 million tonne imported in July. July purchases were the highest since India began importing large volumes of discounted Russian crude following the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022. According to ship-tracking data from Kpler, India imported a little over 5 mbd of crude in July, marginally higher than in June.

Russia’s share in India’s crude imports hits 55.5% Supplies from Russia rose to 2.8 mbd from 2.7 mbd in June, taking its share in India’s crude imports to 55.5%. Nikhil Dubey, lead analyst at Kpler, said that amid the evolving geopolitical situation — earlier around the Strait of Hormuz and now around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — Russian crude supplies have once again proven to be among the most reliable. “Another reason for the strong Russian imports is the continued availability of Russian cargo, as drone strikes on Russia’s refining infrastructure have reduced domestic refining activity, leaving more crude available for export,” Dubey said. While purchases from Russia have increased, refiners said discounts on Russian Urals crude have almost disappeared. The July data also suggest Indian refiners have started restoring purchases from West Asian suppliers after supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf during the conflict. Saudi Arabia recorded the biggest increase among major suppliers, with exports to India rising to 4.2 lakh barrels per day (bd) in July from 2.9 lakh bd in June. Imports from Iraq continued to recover after falling to zero in April, with purchases in July nearly doubling to 1.3 lakh bd from 67,100 bd in June, marking the third consecutive monthly increase since supplies resumed in May. Kuwait also returned to India’s import basket, shipping 51,600 bd after recording no exports during April, May and June. The return of Iraqi and Kuwaiti crude, along with higher imports from Saudi Arabia, suggests crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz have largely normalised after disruptions during the conflict, allowing Indian refiners to increase purchases from Gulf producers. Among other suppliers, imports from the UAE declined to 4.6 lakh bd in July from 5.1 lakh bd in June, though it remained India’s second-largest source of crude.