India’s crude oil imports from Iraq jumped in January to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) as cargo arrivals from all key Indian suppliers rose last month, Shafaq News reports, citing data from trade sources.
Thus Iraq remained the second-biggest crude oil supplier to India, which is the world’s third-largest oil importer.
Arrivals of Russian crude also rose in January, as cargoes were contracted weeks before the latest U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade network from January 10, which upended global trade flows with buyers scrambling to book unsanctioned vessels, traders, and insurers.
Indian imports of Russian crude oil increased by 4.3% to 1.58 million in January, and Russia kept the number-one spot.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the third and fourth biggest suppliers to India. The United States jumped to the fifth place, after Indian refiners imported 218,400 bpd of American crude last month, more than tripling the volumes from 70,600 bpd in December.
Going forward, India is set to increase significantly its purchases of U.S. crude while its imports of Russian oil are likely to stagnate until the sanctions chaos clears.
India, which has a massive trade surplus with the United States, has said it would aim to buy more American oil and LNG to reduce the surplus and avoid potential tariffs from President Donald Trump.
India could raise its imports of U.S. oil and gas to $25 billion, up from about $15 billion, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said last week after a meeting between President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India imported a lot of American crude in 2021, but its imports have dropped since then as Indian refiners turned to the cheap Russian oil which no one in the West wants.
However, since last month’s U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, India has scrambled to reshuffle and reconfigure oil traders, insurers, and vessel owners with which it works. India wants to continue receiving the cheaper Russian oil without risking violating the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil exports.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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