India’s imports of Saudi oil are at the lowest level in two and a half years

Shipping data from commercial and industrial sources showed that India’s imports of crude oil from Russia fell in July for the first time in nine months, and shipments from Saudi Arabia fell to the lowest level in two and a half years after production cuts from OPEC +.

China and India, the world’s largest and third largest oil importers, cut imports from Russia and Saudi Arabia in July after rising prices and the two countries cutting production and shipments of crude oil.

Saudi Arabia announced a voluntary production cut of another million barrels per day from July to September, and Russia announced a cut in exports in August by 500,000 barrels per day, as part of an agreement between members of the OPEC + coalition that includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to limit production. supply and price support.

The data showed that India’s total imports also fell 5.2 percent compared to June to 4.4 million barrels per day in July, as many refineries were closed for maintenance during the monsoon season.

The data also showed that oil imports from Russia fell 5.7 percent to 1.85 million barrels per day, and shipments from Saudi Arabia fell 26 percent to 470 thousand barrels per day.

India imports more than 80 percent of its total oil needs.

Indian refineries, working to diversify their oil import sources to cut costs, began scrambling for discounted Russian oil as some Western companies stopped buying from Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The data showed that despite the decline in imports from Saudi Arabia, India’s imports of OPEC oil increased in July to the highest level since March, with imports from Iraq, the UAE and Nigeria increasing.

In the period from April to July, the first four months of the current fiscal year in India, the ratio of imports from OPEC to total Indian imports remained at the lowest level in at least the last 22 years.