India’s oil imports from Russia climb to new peak as buying limit nears

By Rakesh Sharma

 

India’s imports of Russian oil hit another record last month as the South Asian nation potentially nears the limit of its buying splurge from the major OPEC+ producer.

 

Daily volumes climbed to 2.2 million barrels a day in June, rising for a 10th month, according to Viktor Katona, the head of crude analysis at Kpler. Russian purchases again exceeded the combined shipments of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, data from the analytics firm show.

India emerged as a key consumer of Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine, but the nation’s buying could be near its limit due to infrastructure issues and the need to maintain good relations with other suppliers. Kpler says imports may dip next month because of lower Russian supply.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp. has been the biggest buyer of Russian crude over the past two months, followed by Reliance Industries Ltd., according to Kpler. Overall, India’s imports of Urals hit another record of 1.5 million barrels a day in June, the analytics firm said.