An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia. Representational Image/AP.
New Delhi: Russia continued to be India’s largest oil supplier for the second consecutive month in November with Moscow supplying 909,400 barrels per day (bpd) of crude during the month, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
In October, Russia sent over 902,740 bpd of oil, which was the highest among all exporters to India.
For both the months, Russia remained the top oil supplier to India, ahead of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
In November, Russian oil accounted for 21 per cent of India’s total imports of 4.29 million bpd, Vortexa data showed.
Countries from which India imports crude oil
India’s crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Nigeria and Angola declined in the month of November, while those from Canada and the US witnessed an increase.
Notably, India’s import of Russian crude was 38 per cent higher than the European Union’s import of oil in November.
Biggest importer of Russian crude oil
China remained the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude with the country importing over a million barrels per day in November.
In December last year, before the Russia-Ukraine war began on 24 February, 2022, India imported an average of 36,255 bpd of crude oil from Moscow. During that month, the country imported 10.5 lakh bpd from Iraq and 9.52 lakh bpd from Saudi Arabia.
For the unversed, India did not import a single barrel from Russia in January and February. However, the oil imports increased after Moscow unloaded its oil in the market with heavy discounts.
In March this year, India purchased 2.66 lakh barrels which gradually rose to an all-time high of 9.42 lakh barrels in June.
India imports crude oil from Russia amid Ukraine war
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Monday, strongly defended imports of crude oil from Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict and said that India’s procurement was mere one-sixth of the European purchase in the past nine months.
Jaishankar’s comments came at the backdrop of a G7 price cap on Russian crude at $60 a barrel came into effect.
Jaishankar also said that Europe can’t make choices to prioritise its energy needs while asking India to do something else, asserting that discussions between New Delhi and Moscow to expand the trade basket started much before the Ukraine conflict started in February.
“I understand that there is a conflict situation (in Ukraine). I also understand that Europe has a point of view and Europe will make the choices it will make that is Europe’s right. But for Europe to make choices which prioritises its energy needs and then ask India to do something else… ,” he said.
Back in November, Jaishankar said that India would continue buying crude oil from Russia even as the US claimed that New Delhi was taking advantage of the price cap the G7 nations would impose on crude oil exported from Moscow from 5 December.
“It is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on most advantageous terms to international (oil and gas) markets. In that respect, we have seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage. So if it works to my advantage, I would keep that going,” Jaishankar had said during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
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