India increases Saudi imports while cutting its October purchases of Russian oil by 4%

 India increases Saudi imports while cutting its October purchases of Russian oil by 4%

India bought 1.55 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) from Russia in October compared to 1.62 million bpd the month before. Approximately 34% of India's total crude oil imports for the month came from Russian oil.

Approximately 34% of India's total crude oil imports for the month came from Russian oil.

India's imports of crude oil from Russia fell by more than 4% in October as compared to September, according to information provided by energy cargo tracker Vortexa.

The drop in Moscow imports coincides with declining Russian oil discounts and refiner payment problems as oil prices rise over the price ceiling.

India bought 1.55 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) from Russia in October compared to 1.62 million bpd the month before. During the month, around 34% of India's total crude oil imports came from Russia.

But Russia continued to be India's top crude oil supplier for the month. Additionally, it has been a year since Russia became India's main supplier of crude oil.

Since Moscow sent soldiers to Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has emerged as a significant supplier of crude oil for India. By October 2022, Russia had surpassed Saudi Arabia and Iraq as the largest provider of the commodity.

Ever since Moscow was hit with several sanctions by the US and the EU after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been selling cheap oil to Asian nations, particularly China and India. But in recent months, Russia's discounts have decreased, which has caused the price of oil to surpass the $60 per barrel price ceiling.

The bulk of India's imports are Russian Urals, a sour quality of crude oil, which is heavily discounted. India purchased 1.39 million bpd of Russian Urals in October, up from 1.16 million bpd the month before.

India has increased imports from Saudi Arabia while decreasing imports from Russia; in October, shipments from Saudi Arabia were 924,000 barrels per day, up from 523,000 bpd a month earlier.

In contrast to 946,000 bpd previous month, Iraq delivered 786,000 bpd to India in October. In October, India's all imported goods of crude oil from the US, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Russia amounted to 4.56 million barrels per day.