New Delhi: Russia supplied more than half of India’s crude imports for the first time in June, with shipments touching a record 2.6 million barrels per day (mbpd) as Indian refiners ramped up purchases of discounted Urals (Russian oil grade) crude. Overall, India’s crude imports rose to around 5 mbpd, the highest ever for the month despite weeks of geopolitical uncertainty.
Russia’s share in India’s crude basket reached around 52 percent in June, marking the first time a single supplier has accounted for a majority of India’s crude imports. Russian shipments grew from around 2 mbpd in May to 2.6 mbpd in June, comfortably surpassing the previous high of around 2.1 mbpd in July 2024.“The wide Urals discount relative to Dubai and Oman remains the core pull, while the collapse in Iraqi crude arrivals has left a gap that Russian barrels have filled,” Naveen Das, senior analyst at Kpler, a global data analytics firm, told ThePrint.
He added, “Indian refiners have also fully rebuilt their Russian supply chains after the disruption caused by the US sanctions earlier this year.”The record level of imports underlines how Indian refiners have reshaped their procurement strategy over the past few months by relying on barrels from Russia while reducing dependence on several Gulf producers that were impacted by the West Asia conflict.Graphic: Prakhar Agarwal
