India: Crude oil imports from Russia fall in Aug on lower supplies

India’s import of Russian crude oil fell 17% in August to 1.64 million barrels per day against 1.99 barrels per day imported in July, data from Vortexa showed. The decline in Russian crude oil imports can be attributed to lower supplies from the country and lower demand as many domestic refineries went under planned maintenance.

In August, Indian refiners imported more crude oil from Iraq and the United States. Russia remained the top supplier last month but lost its share in the country’s crude import basket to 39% from 43% registered in July.

Imports from Iraq rose by 14% on month at 778,262 barrels per day in August, accounting for 19% of the country’s total crude oil imports. In July, imports from Iraq accounted for 15% of the country’s total imported crude oil volume.

Imports from the US increased by as much as 60% to 367,119 barrels per day in August from 229,893 barrels per day in July. The share of US crude in India oil imports also increased to 9% sequentially, the highest so far this year, as Indian refiners are seeking some lighter grades, too, to counterbalance the density of heavier grades from Russia.

“India’s imports of Russian crude have fallen by 17% month on month partly likely due to lower supplies from Russia, as well as several domestic refineries shutting for planned maintenance,” said Serena Huang, Head of APAC Analysis at Vortexa.

The country imported a cumulative of 4.17 million barrels per day of crude oil in August, down from 4.61 million barrels per day in July, as per the data.

Going ahead, analysts expect Russian crude oil supplies to resume sharply and remain robust towards the beginning of the fourth quarter of the fiscal due to anticipated increase in the demand.

“Indian refiners’ imports of Russian and Middle Eastern crude will likely remain robust going forward, especially entering Q4 where seasonal domestic demand is expected to pick up,” Huang said.

According to the data, India’s private refiners bought 1.64 million barrels of crude oil per day in August while public downstream companies imported 2.53 million barrels of crude oil.

The country’s dependency on import of crude oil during the first four months of the current fiscal rose to 88.3%, up from 87.8% in the Apr-Jul period of FY24 as the domestic production remained stagnant, as per data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
Upstream companies produced 9.7 million tonnes of crude oil during April to July, marginally down from 9.8 million tonnes in the same period last fiscal. Despite the government’s efforts to boost production and reduce dependency on imports, the production has remained stagnant over the last 10 years.

India’s crude oil imports rose to 81.6 million tonnes in April-July from 79.7 million in the year-ago period, according to PPAC data. Crude oil import bill during the period increased by around 17% on year to $49 billion from $41.9 billion.
Source: Financial Express