India’s imports of Russian crude oil rose 4 per cent in November to a five-month high of Euro 2.6 billion, European think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said. The report added that a large part of India’s refined fuels is being exported to Australia
The think tanks said that India remained the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in November, behind China. Earlier in October, India purchased oil worth Euro 2.5 billion from Russia, the report added.
The report said that China bought the highest 47 per cent of Russia’s crude exports in November, followed by India, 38 per cent, Turkiye, 6 per cent, and the EU, 6 per cent. Russia supplied about 35 per cent of all crude oil that India imported in November, the report said.
US sanction and effect
On October 22, the US imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, two of the largest oil producers in Russia, to cut off the Kremlin’s resources for funding the Ukraine war.
The sanctions have resulted in companies like Reliance Industries, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals halting imports for now. However, other refiners like Indian Oil Corporation continue to buy from non-sanctioned Russian entities.
“While private refiners’ imports suffered a marginal reduction, state-owned refineries increased their Russian crude volumes by 22 per cent month-on-month in November,” CREA said.
December outlook
Think tank CREA said that India’s purchases may well record another increase in December, as cargoes loaded before the US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions kicked in are delivered through the month.
Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India dramatically increased Russian imports as sanctions and reduced European demand made the barrels available at steep discounts, pushing its share from under 1 per cent to nearly 40 per cent of total crude imports.