India's crude oil imports from Russia fell for a second straight month in January to its lowest in 12 months but the nation's insatiable appetite for Russian crude remains for the long term, according to data from energy cargo tracker and industry officials. Russia supplied 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil to India in January, down from 1.32 million barrels in December and 1.62 million barrels in November 2023, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia however continues to remain India's top oil supplier, accounting for a little less than a quarter of 4.91 million barrels a day of oil that the world's third largest energy consumer imported in January. The decline in cargoes from Russia was made up by increased sourcing from Iraq, which supplied 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up from 985,000 bpd in the previous month. Supplies from Saudi Arabia declined to 659,000 bpd from 668,000 bpd in December. India is more than 85 per cent dependent on .
Last year, India emerged as a top buyer of sea-borne Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries halted imports following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine
Reduction in discounted Russian supplies will affect gross refining margins, as cheaper crude contributes to the profits of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum
Oil prices have found support from more positive sentiment about demand this week and rising geopolitical tensions from attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi group on Red Sea shipping
Russia has successfully circumvented sanctions on its oil and diverted flows from Europe to China and India, which together accounted for around 90% of its crude exports
IOC is the only state refiner that has an annual deal to buy a variety of Russian grades, including Sokol, from Russian oil major Rosneft. Sokol oil is supplied to IOC by Sakhalin-1 LLC
It's unclear what's holding the vessels up, but US sanctions on tankers hauling Russian crude in breach of a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations might be part of the cause
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's two biggest oil exporters, called in December for all OPEC+ members to join an agreement on output cuts after a fractious meeting of the producers' club
Last month, India overall imported about 4.5 million bpd oil, a decline of about 4.5% from October and a growth of 13% over the same month last year, the data showed
"Our refineries are capable of processing Venezuelan oil and we have given our international trade (department) okay to buy it," Khanna said in an industry event
The Group of Seven large economies known as G7 and some other nations have imposed a ceiling of $60 per barrel for oil at Russian ports to cut Moscow's revenue seen as funding its war in Ukraine
India has boosted purchases of Russian oil sold at a discount after imports from Russia were shunned by some Western countries following its invasion of Ukraine last year
NS Century is currently on its way to discharge Sokol crude at Vadinar port in Gujarat for Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Nov. 25, LSEG and Kpler data showed
A US crackdown on Russian oil exports could also disrupt supply, supporting prices further.
Hungary has asked the European Union's executive to open a legal procedure against Bulgaria over a tax it recently imposed on Russian natural gas passing through its territory, a government minister said on Friday. Bulgaria believes the tax, which it levied in October, will reduce the privileged position of Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom in southeastern Europe and deter Russian influence in the region. But the tax has angered Bulgaria's neighbour Serbia, as well as fellow EU member Hungary, which are heavily dependent on Russian gas coming mostly via Turkey and Bulgaria through the TurkStream pipeline. In a Facebook video, Hungary's minister for EU affairs, Janos Boka, said he had sent a letter to the European Commission urging it to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria, the first potential step the bloc can use to ensure its laws are upheld by member states. Boka complained that Bulgaria had imposed the tax without consulting first with Hungary, and that
Unlike China, India doesn't buy Venezuelan and Iranian oil
India bought Russian oil at an average price of about $81.7 per barrel, compared to about $86 per barrel in August
The share of Russian oil imports in India's overall crude import basket slumped by 8 percentage points on the month in October
The Indian government has expressed discomfort over settling payment for Russian oil in Chinese yuan
India has faltered in locating its oil reserves for decades, but now a path is being paved to facilitate its transition from an oil importer to an exporter