Russia is now India’s second-biggest source of crude oil, after Iraq.
Until February, only around 2% (12 million barrels of Urals crude) of India’s total crude oil imports came from Russia. Now, India’s contracts stand at around 66.5 million barrels, according to data analytics firm Kpler.
This figure is for the period from March to June 2022, along with estimated deliveries in July and August. It exceeds India’s Russian crude oil imports for all of 2021.
The reason for this spike is an almost $25-per-barrel discount offered by Russia following supply disruptions since the Ukraine war.
Russia has been in a spot since the war began as western countries have collectively tightened sanctions on the country, driving its crude oil trade into the shadows. However, India has been an exception because of its strategic dependence on Russia.
Indian refiners are eager for more supplies from the Russian oil major Rosneft, Bloomberg reported. Besides Russian oil, the increased selling price for west Asian crude is also leading them to buy Nigerian crude.
India fulfils 85% of its crude oil requirements through imports. In the financial year ended March, the country spent $119.2 billion (9.3 lakh crore rupees), nearly double of what it spent in the previous fiscal year.