Russian oil exports to India are increasing – Banchero Costa
However, the volumes are still fairly small compared to India’s sources in Middle East
In 2021, India was the third largest seaborne importer of crude oil in the world, just after Mainland China and the European Union, according to Banchero Costa report. Last year, India accounted for 10.2% of global crude oil imports. The world’s top importer, Mainland China, accounts for 21.3% of global volumes, and the EU for 21.0%, Banchero Costa report showed.
In the first 4 months of 2022, India’s crude oil imports rebounded strongly, with volumes increasing by +10.7% y-o-y to 75.3 mln tonnes, from 68.1 mln t in Jan-Apr 2021, the report states.
The vast majority of India’s crude oil imports are sourced from the Middle East, accounting for 64% of India’s total imports in 2021, and as much as 68% of volumes so far this year. The single largest supplier to India is Iraq, with 49.4 mln tonnes in the 12 months of 2021, or 26 percent of India’s total imports. In second place was Saudi Arabia, with 32.2 mln tonnes in Jan-Dec 2021, or 17 percent of the total. The UAE were third, with 19.9 mln tonnes, or 11 percent, with Kuwait also in the top 6 with 12.5 mln tonnes and 7 percent in 2021. Ahead of Kuwait, in fourth place, there are the USA, which exported 15.8 mln tonnes of crude to India in 2021, accounting for 8% of India’s imports. Behind the USA is also Nigeria, with 13.4 mln tonnes to India in 2021, or 7% of India’s total imports.
Russia was fairly down the list, with just 3.9 mln t of crude oil exported to India in Jan-Dec 2021, or just 2% of India’s total crude imports, the experts say. «In recent weeks we have seen a lot of talk about increased Russian oil exports to India, which is seen as politically controversial. That’s technically true, as volumes from Russia to India are indeed increasing. However, the volumes are still fairly small in practical terms», – the report states.
So far this year, crude oil volumes from Russia to India increased by +70.5% y-o-y to 2.1 mln tonnes in Jan-Apr 2022, a 0.9 mln tonnes increase from 1.2 mln tonnes in Jan-Apr 2022. That’s still just 2.7% of India’s total crude oil imports so far this year. This was also below the 3.1 mln tonnes imported from Russia in Jan-Apr 2020, when Russian crude was displaced by the start of Covid lockdowns in China and Europe.
On the other hand, imports from Saudi Arabia to India increased by +39.2% y-o-y to 14.7 mln tonnes in Jan-Apr 2022, a jump of 4.2 mln tonnes from the 10.5 mln tonnes in Jan-Apr 2021. Shipments from Iraq to India also increased by +18.8% y-o-y in Jan-Apr 2022 to 19.5 mln tonnes, from 16.4 mln tonnes in Jan-Apr 2021.