India's OPEC Imports All-time Low As Demand For Cheaper Russian Oil Increases
As purchase of cheaper Russian oil reached their peak in April, the oil producers cartel OPEC saw its share of India's imports of crude drop to an all-time low of 46 per cent, according to industry figures.
India imported 72 per cent of its crude oil from countries in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), primarily in the Middle East and Africa.
At one point, OPEC supplied close to 90 per cent of the crude oil that India purchased, but since Russian oil became more affordable following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, this percentage has been declining.
For a seventh consecutive month, Russia remained the only largest supplier of crude oil, which is transformed into petrol and diesel at refineries. Russia provided more than one-third of all the oil that India bought.
Russia is now India's largest supplier, outpacing its total purchases from Iraq and Saudi Arabia during the previous ten years.
Russia's market share in India's imports increased to 1.67 million barrels per day in April, taking 36 per cent of the market from less than 1 per cent before the commencement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
Out of the 4.6 million bpd of oil India imported in April, 2.1 million barrels per day came from OPEC. This gave it, according to Vortexa, a 46 per cent stake.
