India boosted imports of non-Russian crude supply in February amid concerns and uncertainties over Russian oil following the U.S. sanctions from early January.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the bans on Russian oil in the West, India has become a key buyer of Russian crude, alongside China. Russia, for its part, became the single biggest oil supplier to India, the world’s third-largest oil importer.
Indian refiners earlier this year scrambled for alternatives after the U.S. sanctions designated hundreds of tankers, as well as oil traders, in January.
The Biden Administration’s farewell sanctions on Russian oil have reduced the availability of non-sanctioned tankers to carry out the trades.
As a result, Indian refiners scrambled to reshuffle and reconfigure oil traders, insurers, and vessel owners with which they worked.
The world’s third-largest crude oil importer wants to continue receiving the cheaper Russian oil without risking violating the U.S. sanctions.
India will continue to buy Russian oil if it is sold below the $60 per barrel price cap and delivered on non-sanctioned tankers and without any involvement of sanctioned companies or individuals, Indian officials have said.
Amid reduced availability of non-sanctioned vessels to ship Russian oil, Indian refiners raised their supply from Africa and South America last month, according to data from trade sources cited by Reuters.
India more than doubled its crude oil imports from Africa in February, to around 330,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 143,000 bpd in January. Indian imports of crude from South America jumped by 60% month-on-month to about to 453,600 bpd in February, per the data.
At the same time, India’s imports of Russian crude dropped by 3% from January and averaged about 1.54 million bpd in February. Russia’s share of total Indian crude oil imports fell slightly to 30.5% in February—the lowest share in a year, according to the data.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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