India’s import of Russian crude oil declined by 13.2% to 1.39 million barrels per day in December against 1.61 million barrels per day in November, data from Vortexa showed. However, Russia remained the largest crude supplier to the country in December accounting for 31% of India’s total crude oil imports.
The country’s overall crude oil imports increased by almost 4% to 4.46 million barrels per day month over month in December, with higher crude imports from Iraq offsetting the decline in imports from Russia.
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“In December, the top five supplies included Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Angola, with Angola overtaking the United States as the fifth largest crude supplier,” said Xavier Tang, market analyst at Vortexa. “Indian refiners turned towards African and Middle Eastern producers for crude as Russian crude exports fell.”
While the share of crude oil sourced from Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two traditional oil suppliers to the country, fell in December, the share of crude imports from the United Arab Emirates and Iraq increased.
Iraq’s share of Indian imports increased to 23% this month, up from 16% last month. Imports from Iraq increased by 48.3% on month to 1.03 million barrels per day last month, as per the data. Imports from Saudi Arabia fell by 8% to 573,523 barrels per day last month from 624,605 barrels per day in November.
“Given the discounts for Russian barrels over the Middle Eastern counterparts, India will continue to prioritise importing crude oil from Russia,” Tang said. “However, with the recent reduction in Middle Eastern crude official selling prices, India will likely supplement any shortfall in Russian supplies with Middle Eastern crude grades,” he added.
India’s crude imports are also dependent on the country’s domestic oil demand and export margins.
Meanwhile, the country’s crude imports from the US is likely to remain unaffected under the new administration, analysts say. US domestic production is projected to increase next year, as part of the new drilled and completed wells coming online.
“The US incoming president, Donald Trump, has announced that he intends to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.
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