February crude oil imports from Russia edged up from January trade

India's import of Russian oil edged up in February over January, reversing declines seen in the past two months, data from industry sources showed on Wednesday, as refiners received some parcels of Russian light sweet Sokol grade.

The world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, India has been gorging on Russian oil since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

The South Asian nation emerged as the top buyer of Russian oil in 2023 after some entities and nations retreated from purchases in December 2022.

Last month, Indian refiners imported 1.51 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil, a rise of about 2.8% from January, the data showed. That was about 12.2% lower than the corresponding month a year ago.

Russian oil made up about 32% of India's overall oil imports in February, compared with 28% the previous month, the data showed.

India's Russian oil imports in recent months were hit by payment problems and tougher U.S. sanctions, targeting entities and ships involved in the sale of Russian crude at above the price cap of $60 a barrel fixed by G7 nations.

India's overall imports last month declined 10% from January to 4.72 million bpd, the data showed. That decline is steeper than preliminary government data as it included some parcels that arrived in February and were discharged in March.

The share of South American nations in India's total oil imports in February rose because of higher intake of Venezuelan oil by Indian refiners. In February, Venezuela was the fourth biggest supplier to India.

In the same month, Indian refiners cut imports from Iraq by 32% from January to 861,200 bpd, while raising purchases from Saudi Arabia by 13.8% to 801,700 bpd, the data showed.

That led to OPEC's share in India's monthly imports rising to about 56% in February from 54% in January, it showed. For the first 11 months of financial year that ends in March 2024, the share of the producers' group fell to 49.8%, the data showed.