India’s Russian oil imports rose to a nine-month high in April after shipments on non-sanctioned tankers operated by Russia’s largest shipping company Sovcomflot resumed. Refiners in India had briefly stopped importing Russian oil in Sovcomflot tankers after the company’s ships, along with its 14 tankers, were designated by Washington in February as being in breach of Western sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
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% over the previous month. This expanded Russia’s share in India’s total oil imports to around 38%, up from 32% in the previous month.
Overall, India imported 4.8 million bpd of oil in April, a decline of 6.5% from the previous month but 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% from 46% in March.
Lower imports from the Middle East further reduced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) share in India’s crude basket to 46% in April from 53% in March. 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% last month from 37% in March.