New Delhi: Crude oil imports from Russia saw a decline of 6.5% month-on-month in July, reducing their share in India's imports of the commodity to 40%, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
The drop was driven by a 25% month-on-month decline in imports by private sector refiners Reliance Industries and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy. A total of 1.81 million barrels per day (mbd) of Russian crude was imported in July, down from 1.93 mbd in the previous month-which accounted for 42% of the total crude oil imported by India.
Serena Huang, analyst at Vortexa, said, "India's (July) imports of Russian crude have remained considerably robust amidst healthy import appetite from refiners."
She added that inbound shipments could fall further in August. "Russian crude exports fell to 2.93 mbd in July, down 15% month-on-month, as the country ramps up domestic refinery runs to meet its summer demand."
Lower exports from Russia in July could spell lower Indian imports in August as it takes about a month for a tanker loaded at a Russian port to reach here. Imports of Russian-refined products fell 7% month-on-month in July to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd). Huang noted that India's imports of Russian products have fallen in July compared to June, as more supplies have headed towards Turkey, the Middle East and Malaysia.
Last month, China imported 276,000 bpd and Europe 515,000 bpd of refined products from Russia-almost as much as in June. Seaborne Russian crude imports by China fell 8% to 1.09 mbd, while that by Europe increased 20% to 0.47 mbd during the month.
Meanwhile, India's crude imports from Saudi Arabia in July increased about a third over the previous month to 606,000 bpd.
Saudi Arabia's share in overall crude shipments entering India increased to 13.5% last month from 10% in June, while Iraq's share fell to 13.5% from 17.5%.
The UAE's share decreased to 7.6% from 8%, as did that of the United States to 5.5% from 7.2%, but Africa's share rose to 5.3% from 4.3%. India's overall crude imports fell 2% to 4.47 mbd in July.
Discounts available on Russian oil help make it the preferred diet of Indian refineries, which have drastically cut supplies from traditional Gulf suppliers over the past two years. Iraq, too, offers some discounts to compete with Russian supplies and maintain a significant share of the Indian market. Saudi Arabia's share in the Indian market has sharply fallen and varies month to month. US crude imports usually rise when the gap between the crude benchmark WTI and Brent widens.
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