Indian crude oil imports from Latin America and Africa rose slightly in February when the refiners switched to alternative sources, worrying about the loss of Russian oil supply caused by tighter US sanctions, data from trading sources showed.
South Asians became the largest buyer of Russian marine oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow for the 2022 Ukraine invasion in 2022.
According to the Reuters news agency, in February, Russian oil imports dropped 3% from January to around 1.54 million barrels per day (BPD), with the share of Moscow in the purchase of New Delhi crude oil which shrank to the lowest since January 2024, the data showed.
Indian oil imports from African countries rose to around 330,000 BPD in February from 143,000 BPD in January while those from South America rose 60% to 453,600 BPD, data showed.
In January, Washington imposed sweeping sanctions targeting Russian producers and tankers, disrupting the supply of producer No. 2 in the world and tighten the availability of ships.
The Russian part in the whole import of oil by India, oil importers and the third largest consumer in the world, shrank slightly to around 30.5% in February while Latin America rose to 9%, the highest since December 2021, the data showed.
Last month India received a rare cargo from the Gabon Etame level and for the first time took the Medanito Argentine oil, the data showed
Penytiling in India maximizes the purchase of Russian oil ahead of the February 27 deadline set under the latest US sanctions to complete several energy agreements, the data shows.
About half a dozen ships loaded with Russian oil arrived at the port of India towards the end of the month and dismissed in March.
A lower Russian oil intake encouraged the oil part of members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries and West African countries in February.
Source: Reuters
