India’s Russian oil imports rose a nine-month high in April after shipments on non-sanctioned tankers operated by Russia’s largest shipping company Sovcomflot resumed, tanker data obtained from shipping and trade sources showed.

 

Refiners in India briefly stopped importing Russian oil in tankers belonging to Sovcomflot after the company’s ships, along with its 14 tankers, were designated by Washington in February as being in breach of Western sanctions.

 

The West has imposed the sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has enacted price caps on oil and oil products loaded at Russian ports aimed at cutting Moscow’s oil revenue that funds the war.

 

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is the top client for Russian seaborne oil.

 

In April, the first month of the fiscal year 2024/25, Indian refiners shipped in nearly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil, up about 8.2 per centover the previous month, expanding Russia’s share in India to about 38 per centfrom 32 per centin the previous month, the data showed.

 

Overall, India imported 4.8 million bpd of oil in April, a decline of 6.5 per centfrom the previous month and marginally higher than April 2023.

 

Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

 

However, increased purchases of Russian oil dented Indian refiners’ overall purchase of Iraqi and Saudi Arabian oil during the month, dragging down the share of Middle Eastern oil to 41 per centfrom 46 per centin March, the data showed.

 

Lower imports from the Middle East further reduced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ share in India’s crude basket to 46 per centin April from 53 per centin March, the data showed.

 

Higher imports of Russian oil boosted the share of oil from the Commonwealth of Independent States, comprising Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia, in India’s imports to 41 per centlast month from 37 per centin March.

 

First Published: May 21 2024 | 1:40 PM IST