India's import of US oil jumps 10-fold to 250,000 bpd: US Energy Secretary

US oil supplies to India have jumped ten-fold to 2,50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the last few years, visiting US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a business meeting alongside US President Donald Trump, he said Indian imports of US oil were 25,000 bpd a couple of year ago, and have now risen to 2,50,000 bpd.

US is India's sixth largest oil supplier.

India began importing crude oil from the US in 2017 as it looked to diversify its import basket beyond the OPEC nations. It bought 1.9 million tonnes (38,000 bpd) of crude oil from the US in 2017-18 and another 6.2 million tonnes (1,24,000 bpd) in 2018-19.

In the first six months of current fiscal (2019-20), US supplied 5.4 million tonnes of crude oil to India.

Iraq is India's top crude oil supplier, meeting close to one-fourth of the country's oil needs. It sold 26 million tonnes of crude oil to India during April to September.

India, which is 83 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs, bought 111.4 million tonnes of crude oil from overseas during April-September.

Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India's top oil source, but has been relegated to the second spot, exporting 20.7 million tonnes of crude oil in the first six months.