India cuts oil imports from Saudi Arabia by 34%, but continues to import from Russia
India's imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia plunged 34% in July, just as the world's top exporter began cutting its output by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) on top of cuts already agreed within the 'OPEC+, reports MoneyControl, citing data from cargo tracker Vortexa.
India imported 484,000 bpd from Saudi Arabia in July, down from 734,000 bpd in June, according to data. Russia was once again the main supplier of crude oil for India. At 1.9 million barrels per day, Russian deliveries have exceeded supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iraq combined.
Commenting on global crude oil flows in July, Jay Maroo, Vortexa 's Head of Market Intelligence & Analysis (MENA), wrote last week,
“Unlike China, India's imports were about unchanged at 4.5mbd in July, but the nation continued to reduce its intake of Middle Eastern grades (down 170kbd mom).”
In the preceding month, Russia's imports of Indian crude in June were the cheapest since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, during which the world's third-largest oil importer became a major Russian oil customer alongside China.
A matter of price
The average cost of a barrel of Russian crude landed at Indian ports in June was $68.17. For comparison, India paid an average of $70.17 a barrel of Russian crude in May and $100.48 a barrel in June 2022. But now prices have changed and will no longer be at their June lows.
Indian crude imports from Russia could be set for a more significant decline in August, to their lowest since January this year, according to Kpler.
Russia's crude oil imports to India, the world's third-largest oil importer, fell to 2.09 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, down from 2.11 million barrels per day a month earlier , said Viktor Katona, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler. Bloomberg last week.
This month, crude oil imports from India could decline further and fall to 1.6 million barrels per day, Katona added. If the projection is correct, Indian imports of Russian oil could fall to their lowest level since January 2023 in August. The problems reducing imports are related to the payment of the material, which is now made in yuan, and the economic slowdown world, with a drop in oil demand.
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The article India reduces oil imports from the Saudis by 34%, but continues to import from Russia comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/lindia-riduce-limport-di-petrolio-dai-sauditi-del-34-ma-continua-a-importare-dalla-russia/ on Tue, 08 Aug 2023 15:08:56 +0000.