Russia overtook Saudi Arabia and Iraq to become India’s largest oil supplier in October, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday, citing energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
Russia’s overall crude exports to the South Asian country rose 8% month-on-month to 946,000 barrels per day, according to the report. The country accounted for 22% of India’s total oil imports in October, exceeding Iraq’s 20.5% and Saudi Arabia’s 16%.
It was also the first time that India imported more seaborne Russian oil than the EU. Brussels placed economic sanctions on Moscow this year, including an embargo on Russian seaborne oil set to come into force next month, and curtailed overall oil purchases from the country. Russia’s October crude deliveries to India were 34% higher than those to the EU.
China remained Russia’s largest seaborne oil buyer last month, importing around 1 million barrels per day, the report said.
India started to boost its purchases of Russian crude earlier this year, as Western sanctions forced Moscow to offer discounts on its exports in an effort to find new buyers. Despite pressure from Western countries to end cooperation with Moscow, New Delhi has defended its purchase of Russian oil on a number of occasions.
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No ‘moral conflict’ over buying Russian oil – India
Earlier this week, during an interview to CNN India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, reiterated that India sees no “moral conflict” in importing Russian oil. He added that excluding Russian oil from the world market could lead to a crisis and a price spike towards $200 per barrel. He said that India would buy oil and gas from whatever source it can as the government has a “moral duty” to keep its people supplied with energy.
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