Russia oil imports rise 44% in October
Russia continued to be the top source for India’s oil imports in October, accounting for nearly 30% of the crude brought into the country, official data showed. At $3.78 billion, the value of the crude oil supply from Russia increased 44% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October from $2.62 billion in October 2022. On a sequential basis, too, crude imports from that country increased 9% from $3.48 billion in September 2023, commerce ministry data showed.
The increase in crude imports comes despite discounts offered by Russia staying at low levels of around $5-6 per barrel. The rise in imports in October has been backed by festive demand for petroleum products, after it dipped in September. India’s overall oil imports also increased month-on-month, from $10.42 billion in September to $12.43 billion in October.
Last October, it stood at $12.32 billion. “Petroleum product demand generally picks up due to festive demand in October, which must have led to higher imports during the month," said Prashant Vashisht, senior vice-president and co-group head, corporate ratings, Icra Ltd. “Going ahead, however, the demand may taper somewhat." Overall, in the April-October period, India’s crude import bill actually fell 19.53% y-o-y to $76.57 billion.
But imports from Russia have increased 83.95% in the same period to $26.9 billion. In FY22, before the Ukraine crisis broke, Russian oil accounted for only 2% of India’s total oil imports, with the top supplier being Iraq, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has climbed to the top on the back of deep discounts, which crossed $30 per barrel last year.
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